12 Ways To Use Your Rooks Effectively In Chess 

I appreciate the fact that when you say, "Let's get into it," you actually do get right into it. Thanks for the great tutorials.

"How to use your King (!) effectively" could be the next video. ;-) This is counter-intuitive for A LOT of beginners. But having an ACTIVE King is CRUCIAL in the Endgame phase. Famous 'King walks': Short vs. Timman (1991) Alekhine vs. Yates (1922) Tarrasch vs. Réti (1922)

12 Ways to effectively utilise Rooks. 1. Prevent your opponent from castling (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="125">02:05</a>). 2. Pin pieces on the centre files (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="183">03:03</a>). 3. Defending f2 / f7 (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="263">04:23</a>). 4. Pins and Skewers (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="355">05:55</a>). 5. Put pressure on half open files (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="431">07:11</a>). 6. Rooks should go on open files (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="501">08:21</a>). 7. Creating a rook battery (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="591">09:51</a>). 8. Use a rook life to attack (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="696">11:36</a>). 9. Exchange sacrifice (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="809">13:29</a>). 10. Cut off your opponent's king (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1086">18:06</a>). 11. Put your rook on the 2nd / 7th rank (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1249">20:49</a>). 12. Rooks belong behind passed pawns (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1332">22:12</a>).

Two connected rooks in the endgame is a lot more scarier than a queen.

" Well, if u had a chance to look at that... " -Nelson 👑

Really appreciate your videos dude. One of the most clear places to learn online. Really happy to see the channel growing brother!

12 ways I’m gonna lose my rooks to the computer…

Such a good video bro your a seriously impressive teacher. Nearly at 100k and it’s much deserved.

really loving this series! super helpful and practical

Probably the best chess channel on youtube. Clear precise information every time

You’re really a great teacher. Appreciate it, as always 😆 Thank you so much!! Wish you the very best!

That's great content Sir, you've found a niche that wasn't all entirely covered in the genre and put your personal touch in it. It's highly educative and a great invested time/reward ratio. Keep it up !

So informative! Great content man. I've learned a lot from this.

I appreciate it when you say, "Let's get into it," and you actually do. Thank you for the excellent tutorials.

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="660">11:00</a>, White can capture the queen with his bishop on g3.

Thank you very much . Your arguments are very straight as an arrow of Archilies. Very rational and easy to grasp.

Just recently got into chess (played occasionally years ago) and I’ve be able to grow as a player, but my friend said I need better “rook play” and this def helps with giving me ideas to use them! Great video!

This is an excellent series. Very helpful and informative.

Another great instructive video! I have an idea for a future video... Could you please make one on how to pawn storm correctly/effectively? Sometimes I get into a situation where I am not sure which pawn/pawns I should be pushing, and in what order for maximum effectiveness and so as to not get blockaded. Thanks in advance!

I'm going to watch this video - I know you always deliver great quality with no nonsense. But timestamps could improve them further! If I know this technique and don't need to hear the following couple of minutes I could skip to the next tip easily with timestamps.

Great content; thank you for sharing.

Dope video man! Im ready to play now lol

I hit thumbs up on all your videos right away. Because you cover great topics, instruct well and get straight to the point. Favourite chess channel

Liked the way you showed theories of , capture for lesser value. Or the options. Depending on where you are. And of course the situations.

I usually castle on the king side since it gives a better coverage for the king. In addition, the pawns are also all covered. The one reason I lately like to castle on the Queens side is because the rook takes a position in the center of the game. Sometimes very favorable which makes the castling consist of two effective moves in one!

Thank you so much for this interesting video. Take care!

Yes yes yes thank you I was looking for this

Extremely instructive manuals.

Very useful .. Thanks

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="415">6:55</a> the knight can block the skewer and then once the rook takes, the bishop can recapture. Pinning the bishop first and then skewering is better because you'll pin the bishop to the queen and if they move king behind the bishop, you win a queen and you can start to attack them from the side.

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="413">6:53</a> you can block with the knight and then the bishop after rook takes to prevent the loss of the queen, although it is only a slight difference from a queen-rook trade

Just going to add this part, about the rooks on the 2nd/7th, if you can (safely) double up your rooks there it is mostly a good idea too (of course there are some exceptions, for example you move both your rooks forward and lose to backrank mate etc.) but the idea is basically the same but stronger, Rook on 7th has multiple pawns to target, but when you have TWO rooks targeting that then it's basically double the firepower in your threats which (more often that not) will put your opponent in almost a zugzwang if they try to passively defend

The part with the rook on the 7th/2nd, you should add that having both rook on the 7th/2nd is very very powerful

Literally the best tutorials. I love you dude

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="303">5:03</a> Even materially, that is a losing trade for White, if we value the bishop as 330cp and the rook as 460cp. They would be losing 70cp, which is more than enough to compensate for a somewhat exposed, but difficult to attack king. If we add the loss of the bishop pair, then they would lose even more. Although if the resulting king is vulnerable, then it can be worth it.

Great work Nelson as always..... please also make video on exchange sacrifice.... it's a difficult concept to understand.... don't know when to apply it... look forward for more videos

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="658">10:58</a> White bishop: I’m going to end this man’s whole career

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="371">6:11</a> knight takes f5

A few things you missed in your video I noticed immediately... 1. Prevent K from castling. In your example you blocked the Rook attack with the bishop, and the impression is that the K can now castle because it hasn't moved. But, the Q could have been played to reinforce the Rook attack which also prevents the K from castling (because it would leave the B protected once and attacked twice). 2. When talking about stacking rooks, although not too common Alekhine's gun should be mentioned where the Q is tripled up and placed behind both rooks. It's an almost irresistible attack if it can be achieved which is uncommon. Placing the Q in first or second position is not as strong. 3. You didn't mention the standard "rooks only" ladder mate which is the often natural consequence of stacking rooks and trapping the K towards an edge of the board. This is also a natural consequence of stacking rooks in an endgame or misplaced pieces earlier in the game.

Good video thanks for the upload.

you can also do deflections. I once had a win where my Queen and Pawn were attacking my opponent's Bishop, behind which was their King. The only other piece defending the Bishop was their Queen. I had a Rook that could go on an undefended square to attack the Queen. The Queen captured my Rook, thus leaving the rank, and the Bishop underdefended. I captured the Bishop with mate.

the strategy in the thumbnail is going to be especially useful in my next games! thank you!

Another amazing video from Chess Vibes. Hands down best chess teacher on RU-vid 😀

Thank you The best...

Such good work Nelson. As a shitty chess player, I'm really grateful for your instruction.

Is this a part of a bigger playlist?

damn, you got some of the best tutorials on youtube.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="660">11:00</a> LMAO just take the Queen with the Bishop lol

Hi Nelson! If you're looking for topics to discuss in your next few videos, I have a suggestion for you: Many chess players at master levels will agree that two minor pieces > rook + pawn, even though material is technically equal. But for beginning to intermediate players who aren't very good in piece coordination, having two minor pieces for a rook and pawn can be quite worrisome. Perhaps you could come up with a video that teaches some basic attacking and defending guidelines for the player who has the minor pieces. Thanks for tirelessly uploading great chess content like this. Your channel really deserves a lot more views and likes than it is getting right now.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="658">10:58</a> beautiful move by black

These videos help me improve allot

Could have also touched on mating patterns. The rook is the only piece other than the queen that can mate with only it and the king. Of course there are some situations where restrictive pawn structures can trap the king for bishop or knight mates. But its a huge asset in the most endy of end games.

oh you actually made the video on rooks! 😆😆🤣🤣🤣 NICE! 👍

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="82">1:22</a> I know nobody will care about this, but 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Bc5 is the exact same thing I used to demonstrate artificial castling on Wikipedia. Then it diverges: 4.Nxe5 Bxf2+ 5.Kxf2 Nxe5 6.d4 Ng6 7.Be2 d6 8.Rf1 N8e7 9.Kg1. This is my first time actually seeing it in the wild. Ironically on a video about rooks. Pretty wild.

you can make also a ways to use your queen effectively in chess like in endgame or in middlegame scenarious

If you look carefully, then you will notice on <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="658">10:58</a> that the black queen can be cut by White's black squared bishop

Of course the effect of a pair of rooks is : used in concert the effect is greater than the effective sum of the parts .

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="406">6:46</a> it possible to stop white from getting the queen with the following moves: rook to e8, horsey to d8, rook takes on d8, bishop to c8

Thanks from Texas

can you do a video about the queen vs rook checkmate?

Thanks

My fav rook lifts happen in the Budapest

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="415">6:55</a> you should firs pin the bishop so that it cant bodyblock after the knight blocks

Bro u r like dictionary for chess. And I like that

In number 9 put Pawn 5A and horse in C5 Also kill the pawn with a bishop and horse in D5 but its a risky option cuz i dont think if he sees that the horse can go too A5 which makes senses

Great video as always! At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="680">11:20</a>, you quite quickly go over why black can’t move their rook to H8, but I often struggle to see this. I can count to 2, but there’s always a bit more to it (like who takes the initiative). Do you have any tips about these setups that would allow me to instantly evaluate them?

A bit off topic: As I recall, you have an OTB event this month. When is it? Whenever it is GO NELSI!

Hi Nelson, I'm stuck trying to beat stockfish level 6 on lichess (be awesome if you did a video on beating its levels and how strong you think the engine is at the different levels), and I have to admit sometimes it's rook moves are confusing. It will put a rook on what appears to be a closed file that's never busting open and I'm thinking why did it place the rook there, the file is never going to open. Then a number of moves later it just so happens and the file is forced half open or open and it ends up bad for me. I guess fore-seeing how the game could develop is my weakness there. At level 6 I come out of the opening usually ever slightly better or even because it seems stockfish deliberately chooses the 3rd or 4th best move at this level, but then it comes back like a demon in the mid-game and end game.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1247">20:47</a> What about Rb3? Doesn't that cut off the King, too?

I'm still a rank 1000 - 1200 and blundering is my job😁 I mostly play it out now whenever I blunder my queen. Surprised myself by just following direction from watching your vids. 90% will quit when you cap their queen. I just tough it out and they deduct less from your rating finishing w or l.

Ty

Castling into a open or half open file, especially as in the Kings Gambit.

In number 4 black also has hanging rook

The king is worth 102 points of material because if you promote all eight of your pawns and keep your knights, bishops, and rooks, then you have 103 points of material. It's 102 and not 103 because a king can't win on his own, as the king can't give checks. If you have a king and a pawn, and black has nine queens and all lower pieces, you can checkmate, only if you give the check in the corner with your pawn, which is protected by the king, and your opponent's pieces all block his escape squares. See the Worstfish video by gotham chess

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="660">11:00</a> i love blundering my queen for no real reason

On 7. The Queen was on a place that the Bishop can take.

The opening move is how we started playing chess. We hadn't worked out any theory. Luckily the incompetence was balance on both sides!

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="659">10:59</a> my reaction to black's move

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="659">10:59</a> uhhhh the white bishop can take the black queen but still good video

number 4 i saw a hanging rook where a knight could just take the rook but the best move is to skewer the king and queen

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="658">10:58</a> you blundered the queen lol

guess the elo taught me that there should be back rank mate included

Step 1: sacrifice

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="667">11:07</a> "Probably not the best example because the knight will kick our rook away." I mean, yeah, but their queen is hanging in this example, so it might not be worth worrying about ;) But I suppose that still means this isn't the best example :D

Petrosian isn't really known for this kind of attacking style... very nice example of the exchange sacrifice!

Awesome

I'm not the best chess player ever,but once the rooks are out.....,...... a queen can be sacrificed!

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="34">0:34</a> doing this is bad but doing this after black plays e5 is even worse and <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="659">10:59</a> why white didnt play Bxc7

nelson look at the black queen in the triple battery example😅😅😅

at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="658">10:58</a> i think its a better idea to take the queen with the bishop on g3 than to create a triple battery but that's my opinion

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="658">10:58</a> Bxc7

In this video bishib was attacking the queen

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="275">4:35</a> I think d5 is another option here

Is there a cool name for the king sacrifice I keep doing?

Position 10 with ”cutting off the king” isn’t a winning endgame, it’s actually comletely drawing if black plays it right Edit: Nvm, I had flipped the board in the analysis with the engine, it is completely winning for white

So no sacrifice?

I'm watching this cause my friend keep beating me in chess using rook now I can counter his rooks thanks for the lesson

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="658">10:58</a> Bxc7😂

Hey Vibes when you say let's get into it you aren't fooling around, are you?

Letsgooo my accuracy is awful with rooks this will help Thank you