The opening is definitely a weak area in my chess game and I always feel like my rooks sit unused until well into the middle game (?). Is that just how things go, or is there a strategy that allows development of the rooks in the opening?
I'm aware of castling as a way to get a rook towards the middle files (of course). But I always feel like I'm neglecting the rooks when I play.
That's actually not very surprising. In many openings, the rooks don't participate until fairly deep into the middlegame. You touch on the reason in your question - the rooks have to wait until all the other pieces are out of the way in order to develop.
The specific strategy for rook development will depend on the position, but generally speaking, the rooks belong on the open and half open files in the middlegame. In the endgame, rooks belong behind passed pawns. Also in the late middlegame and endgame, rooks are very useful on the 7th rank (and to some degree the 6th rank as well).
In most openings, the rooks for white will usually come to d1 and e1. Obviously that's a huge generalization, so don't take that as gospel truth. Larry Christiansen has said that "when in doubt [about which rook to move], play the 'a' rook to d1". The other rook (usually coming from the f file after O-O) should either stay on f1 or move to e1.
One last comment - often the best way to make use of the rooks is to double them so that they can invade into the enemy camp. Usually your rooks aren't going to reach the 7th rank in the middlegame because there are too many minor pieces still on the board, but they can still be very useful when doubled and on open files so that they threaten to invade into the opponent's position.
One way NOT to develop rooks in the opening is via something like
or
I (a duffer) played a series of twenty or so games against someone who insisted on opening like this. He never won a game against me.
Best advice is to follow the common wisdom that rooks are usually developed last.
Rooks should usually be kept back in the opening and early middlegame, so they don't become "fodder" for minor pieces like knights and bishops. After some of those pieces are exchanged, then rooks come into their own.
When the time comes, the rooks should be placed on open files (vertical lines where the pawns have been exchanged). These are usually the d and e files, sometimes the c or f files, occasionally the "side" files.
A single rook is a menace to unguarded opposing pieces on the file. "Doubled" rooks (one behind the other) are a menace to opposing pieces on the file unless they are well guarded. The exception is if the opponent can "close" the file using a minor piece guarded by a pawn (exchanging a rook for such a piece and a pawn is seldom a good idea). That's why you want at least some of the minor pieces off the board before you start deploying your rooks.
There are some situations where rooks become active in the opening, but they are rare, and often only enabled by blunders of the other side.
One example: White has castled with a knight on f3, black has not castled and the black bishop pins that knight. Now sometimes h3 can be met with ...h5!?, and if white accepts the sacrifice with hxg4 hxg4, the black rook enjoys suddenly an open file, and white is in serious trouble if the black queen can join the attack.
You want to get the rooks connected and you want to put them on open files.
A "rook lift" is the attackers best friend. A rook can only be lifted through a break in the pawn chain. Pawns must be exchanged to develop a hole through which rooks can be lifted and this is simply termed: "opening lines"... i.e. pawn exchanges open lines.
Cecil J Purdy- an Australian correspondence player1- whom Bobby Fischer called one of the games best teachers, said that you want a plan for both rooks to enter the game by the 12th move.
Rooks can also be called, "The Heavy Pieces", and the simple idea is to get your heavy pieces into the game! Be aware that some people say that when you take one of the rooks, "The back is broken!"
A stricter set of rules says that: place your Rooks on open files or openable files.
It has also been said that you should never start your final attack until until your Queens Rook is in the game.
You will find by looking through most games that most rooks are connected and centered by the 12th move.
Always remember that doubled rooks are more powerful than separated rooks .. separated rooks is better than having only one rook of course: once again- when 'the back is broken' it is a disadvantage under normal circumstances.
One way to develop rooks in the opening is to castle and then storm an attack on the opponents castle using rooks bishops and queen.
