I think it refers to a highly active Rook, as here:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1262412
I think it refers to a highly active Rook, as here:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1262412
[edit] DeepGreene's answer is good.
Not sure if it's a specific chess term other than an active rook "roving" around eating pawns. It may be used loosely to mean a rook on the 7th rank. Doubled rooks on the 7th are called pigs on the 7th or hogs. I think I've heard them called roving eaters somewhere (?). because in that position they can often eat up all the enemy's pawns left on that rank.
Well, thanks to everyone. Shahade and Finegold have been using the term a lot today at the US Women's but I've been missing the context.
OK, I got some context on what Shahade and Finegold meant by a roving rook.
It appears they were speaking of a middlegame rook that has moved in front of the owning player's pawn structure, but is not sitting on an open file. It gets to its position by a vertical move followed by a horizontal move. Both Krush and Marshall had this kind of roving rook in today's games.
OK, I got some context on what Shahade and Finegold meant by a roving rook.
It appears they were speaking of a middlegame rook that has moved in front of the owning player's pawn structure, but is not sitting on an open file. It gets to its position by a vertical move followed by a horizontal move. Both Krush and Marshall had this kind of roving rook in today's games.
It goes in front of it's own pawns to maneuver to a closed file? That seems odd. As part of an attack or something?
But that's interesting, thanks for the info.
It goes in front of it's own pawns to maneuver to a closed file? That seems odd. As part of an attack or something?
But that's interesting, thanks for the info.
Yes, generally as part of an attack. Although as Shahade pointed out, the rook can become an embarrassment if the attack fizzles.
OK, I got some context on what Shahade and Finegold meant by a roving rook.
It appears they were speaking of a middlegame rook that has moved in front of the owning player's pawn structure, but is not sitting on an open file. It gets to its position by a vertical move followed by a horizontal move. Both Krush and Marshall had this kind of roving rook in today's games.
It goes in front of it's own pawns to maneuver to a closed file? That seems odd. As part of an attack or something?
But that's interesting, thanks for the info.
I think rooks in front of pawn chains are called hyper-modern rooks.
This sounds like what I (misguidedly?) refer to as a rook-lift.
Odd? Guess it's not for everyone.
Yes, I found it being referred to as a "rook lift" also. I think I even heard chess.com's own Daniel Rensch call it that on one of his videos. In researching this topic on the Internet I also saw it being named a "rook jump".
Anyway, I realized that I had been using this technique in a variant of the Stonewall Attack, where after f4 and O-O, the kingside rook goes to f3 and then h3. I didn't know it had a name, though.
I think rooks in front of pawn chains are called hyper-modern rooks.
Thanks for that comment. I googled it and yeah you are correct. My source (Pachman's Modern Chess Strategy) indicated that the term "hyper-modern rook" was invented by Tartakover, but it looks like it is the same thing as a rook lift or roving rook.
About this situation Pachman says:
Steinitz has shown that every advance by a pawn reduces its prospects for the end-game--a principle remembered by Reti in all his systems. In the close positional type of game, the players often endeavor to keep the pawns as long as possible on their original squares; if the Rooks are to operate at all, they must then do so from in front of their own pawn chains.
Can anyone supply the precise meaning of the chess term "roving rook"? I'm guessing that it is a rook that moves away from the home rank.