Rooks on open files and the seventh rank
An open file has no pawns on it. A rook on an open file controls it from one end of the board to the other and can use it to break into the opponent’s position.
Rooks wake up late: in the opening they hide in the corners. Your job in the middlegame is to find them an open file.
Take the file, then the seventh rank
The d- and e-files are open. White is first to put a rook on d1, and soon it reaches d7, the seventh rank, where the opponent’s pawns still stand on their starting squares.
Why the seventh rank
- Pawns at home are targets. From the seventh rank a rook attacks them from the side, where other pawns cannot defend them.
- The king is shut in. A rook on the seventh often keeps the enemy king on the back rank.
- Two rooks on the seventh usually decide the game: they sweep along the rank and threaten mate.
Exercise: take an open file
ExerciseWhite to move
White to move. Put a rook on an open file.
Make the move on the board: drag a piece, or click it and then a square.
Solved!
Both the d- and the e-file are open, so any of Rad1, Rfd1, Rae1 or Rfe1 does the job. Take the file first, before Black puts a rook there.
Key points
- Put your rooks on open files, where no pawns block them.
- Double them: two rooks on one file are stronger than one.
- The seventh rank is the target: there a rook attacks pawns and shuts in the king.