The Rook

Time to make the pieces move, and we start with the easiest one to understand: the rook, the piece shaped like a castle tower. The rook moves in straight lines: up or down its file, left or right along its rank, as far as it likes.

The rook on d4 slides along the d-file and the fourth rank: 14 squares in one move's reach.

Any distance means exactly that: one square, or all the way across the board, in a single move. But the move is one straight line. The rook cannot turn a corner mid-move, and it never moves diagonally.

Here is something neat about the rook: it does not care where it stands. Push it into a corner and count again:

From the corner the rook still reaches 14 squares: seven up the a-file, seven along the first rank.

Seven squares on its file plus seven on its rank makes 14 squares from any square on an empty board. No other piece is that consistent. You met the rooks in chapter 1: they start tucked in the corners, on a1 and h1 for White, a8 and h8 for Black, and they are worth the wait.