Thai Chess: A Unique Take on the Classic Game
Thai chess, also known as Makruk, is played on an 8x8 board, similar to Western chess. While the initial setup largely mirrors that of 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 begin on the third rank (white) and sixth rank (black).
The movement of the king and rook remains consistent with Western chess: the king moves one square in any direction, and the rook moves any number of unoccupied squares horizontally or vertically. Pawns also move one square forward and capture one square diagonally forward, as in Western chess. The game supports single-player mode against AI, local two-player mode on the same device, and online multiplayer.
Piece Movements:
- King: Moves as in Western 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.
- Horse (Knight): Moves in an "L" shape—two squares in one direction (horizontally or vertically) and then one square perpendicularly.
- Pawn: Moves one square forward vertically and captures one square diagonally forward. A pawn promotes to a queen upon reaching the sixth rank.
Winning the Game:
The objective, as in Western chess, is to checkmate the opponent's king. A stalemate results in a draw.
