In this article I present three magnificent examples of advanced rook play. As John Watson pointed out in his brilliant Secrets of Chess Strategy, use of rooks has evolved considerably, and Karpov demonstrates this perfectly in his game against Hort. Spassky reveals the power of the defensive rook lift in a critical encounter with Tal, and we end with an oldie but goodie where Stoltz finishes off Frank Marshall with a sacrifice leading to a terminal rook lift.

You are probably familiar with a rook lift as an attacking technique, but are you aware that it can be used defensively as well? Take a look!

Finally, we examine a game with an attacking rook lift that requires a clearance sacrifice to set it up.



