It was early morning. The Great Pawn Hunter and the Restless Knight were sitting by the brook and had their feet in the water. The chess players could see Old Maestro coming near with his cup in one hand and pushing a carriage in the other. The carriage was filled with empty bottles that Old Maestro collected and exchanged for five cents a bottle at the store. He was not a greedy man. He earned enough to get him through life, no more no less. Old Maestro's feet were sore from his morning walk. He came over to the chess players, sat down near them, and dipped his feet into the water. The chess players were eager to ask Old Maestro a question. "Old Maestro," said the Great Pawn Hunter, "How do you play chess?" Old Maestro smiled and motioned with his feet in the water. He wiggled his toes left and he wiggled his toes right, up and down, diagonally, and finally in a circle. The Great Pawn Hunter and the Restless Knight didn't know that Old Maestro was tracing the paths of the pieces with his feet in the water. "I'll tell you how I play," he said, "But, we must start at the beginning." The Restless Knight pulled out her pocket chess board for the old man.
Old Maestro said to them "Listen and I will tell you my secret." The chess players stared intently at
the pocket chess board. He whispered to them..."The pieces," he said, "have invisible shapes!"
"The rook," he said, "must travel in a straight line and can not hop
over other pieces. This anyone can tell you. But, the invisible shape of the rook is seen by the
paths that it can travel. If you place a pebble on every square that the rook can move to you will
find its hidden shape." The Great Pawn Hunter did as Old Maestro asked and discovered the hidden shape is a 'cross'".
In this case, the rook, sitting on the d5 square, can move to any square in the path from (a5 to h5).
It can also move to any square from (d1 to d8)."Do you want to hear more?" asked Old Maestro. The chess players shouted "Yes!" with anticipation. "The value of a rook," said Old Maestro "is worth five points and you must try not to trade it for a lesser valued piece unless you have something to gain like checkmate!" This the chess players knew already. "Here," he said "is a secret: If the rook sits on the back row behind a bunch of pawns or pieces then it does not have its full shape of a 'cross' because the other pieces get in its way!"...This the chess players didn't know. "So, this means it is not worth the five points. You are playing without a rook! You must bring it out into the open, like a champion, so that it can be what it aspires to be...a cross."
The chess players received a valuable lesson. But their attention spans had reached their limits. They agreed to meet the next day. But, before they left, the chess players dug down deep into their bubble gum money and dropped some change into Old Maestro's cup.
and the Great Pawn Hunter leaves you with this piece of wisdom: