Thai Chess: A Unique Take on the Classic Game
Thai chess, also known as Makruk, is played on an 8x8 board, similar to classical chess. While the initial setup largely mirrors classical chess, two key differences exist: the white queen starts on e1 and the white king on d1 (each king is to the left of its queen from the player's perspective); and pawns are positioned on the third rank (white) and sixth rank (black).
The movement of the king, rook, and pawn largely follows classical chess rules: the king moves one square in any direction, the rook moves any number of unoccupied squares horizontally or vertically, and the pawn moves one square forward and captures diagonally forward. The game can be enjoyed against AI, a local opponent on the same device, or an online opponent in multiplayer mode.
Piece Movement Details:
- King: Moves as in European chess. Castling is not permitted.
- Queen: Moves only one square diagonally.
- Rook: Moves any number of unoccupied squares horizontally or vertically.
- Bishop: Moves one square diagonally in any direction or one square forward vertically.
- Knight: Moves in an "L" shape (two squares in one direction, then one square perpendicularly), as in European chess.
- Pawn: Moves one square forward vertically and captures one square diagonally forward, as in European chess. Pawns promote to a queen upon reaching the sixth rank.
Winning the Game:
Checkmating the opponent's king results in victory, as in classical chess. A stalemate (pat) ends the game in a draw.
