castle is a verb. rook is a noun.
Why is the castle called a Rook?
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Castle is noun too, but I think rook comes from some asian or arab origin.
and why is the horsey headed guy called a knight too??
AnthonyCG wrote:
Some people call them "castles" but the correct term is "rooks." That's why R is used tn notate a rook.
They could use C...
AnthonyCG wrote:
goldendog wrote:
and why is the horsey headed guy called a knight too??
Wooden chess sets would cost too much if the knights had a guy sitting on them lol.
The answer is not accurate.
turn wrote:
Why is a castle called a Rook? Why don't they just give one name for it?
They do just give one name to it. Nobody ever decided it was supposed to be a castle. The uneducated call them that because they're unaware of chess terminology.
okay, so castle is not legal?
turn wrote:
okay, so castle is not legal?
Castle is not correct.
It's also more like a tower then a whole castle. The term "castling" then makes sense because the king uses a tower to castle himself into protection. Tower should be the name really. No clue where the heck they got the name "rook" from. Because the towers are high or reach far?
I believe it comes from the original terminolgy. The Rook piece was originally a chariot, but became a tower when it moved to the west.
Rook, or some derivative, means chariot in one of the Asian languages. (correct me if I'm wrong)
The Rook is called a Rook because chess hustlers used to rook people out of their money. The Bishop is called a Bishop because the Church insisted that chess be Christianized. The Night is called a Night because most chess was played at Night after the day's work was done. The pawn is called a pawn becasuse broken-dawn chess players would pawn their beautiful hand-crafted chess sets for food money.
A Rook is also a crow-like bird, native to Europe
Jpatrick wrote:
A Rook is also a crow-like bird, native to Europe
If only they'd named it a "Crow", then everyone could use "C" in their notation and be happy. ;)
a rook is a bird!
o.O
eddiewsox wrote:
The Rook is called a Rook because chess hustlers used to rook people out of their money. The Bishop is called a Bishop because the Church insisted that chess be Christianized. The Night is called a Night because most chess was played at Night after the day's work was done. The pawn is called a pawn becasuse broken-dawn chess players would pawn their beautiful hand-crafted chess sets for food money.
Its knight not night
goldendog wrote:
and why is the horsey headed guy called a knight too??
Because the 'fierce knight' sounds better than 'fierce horsey headed guy.' 
Originally, the rook symbolized a chariot. The Persian word rokh means chariot, and the corresponding pieces in Oriental chess games such as xiangqi and shogi have names meaning chariot. Persian War Chariots were heavily armoured, carrying a driver and at least one ranged-weapon bearer, such as an archer. The sides of the chariot were built to resemble fortified stone work, giving the impression of small, mobile buildings, causing terror on the battlefield. However, in the West, the rook is almost universally represented as a crenellated turret. One possible explanation is that when the game was imported to Italy, the Persian rokh became the Italian word rocca, meaning fortress. Another possible explanation is that rooks represent siege towers (the piece is called "torre", meaning tower, in italian, portuguese and spanish). Rooks usually are similar in appearance to small castles, and as a result, a rook is sometimes called a "castle", usually by non-players and those new to the game. This usage was common in the past ("The Rook, or Castle, is next in power to the Queen" —Howard Staunton, 1847) but today it is rarely, if ever, used in the literature or among players, except in reference to castling. (Here, "castle" is a verb referring to a move, not a noun referring to a piece.)
Why is a castle called a Rook? Why don't they just give one name for it?