In front of uncovered king, captures rooks (5,2)
I believe the answer is:
takes in
'rooks' is the definition.
(rook can mean to take in or trick)
'in front of uncovered king captures' is the wordplay.
'in front of' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (some letters go in front of others).
'uncovered' says to take the centre.
'captures' becomes 'takes' (I've seen this in another clue).
The central letters of 'king' are 'in'.
'in' after 'takes' is 'TAKES IN'.
(Other definitions for takes in that I've seen before include "Puts up" , "covers" , "Receives" , "kids" , "deceives" .)