Makruk: Thai Chess

Thai Chess: A Guide to Gameplay

Thai chess, a game played on an 8x8 board, shares similarities with classical chess but boasts key distinctions. The initial setup largely mirrors classical chess, however, two significant differences exist: the white queen starts on e1 and the white king on d1 (each king positioned to the left of its queen from the player's perspective); and pawns begin on the third rank (white on the third, black on the sixth).

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 advances one square forward and captures diagonally forward. The game supports single-player modes against AI, local two-player gameplay on a single device, and online multiplayer.

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, mirroring European chess rules. Pawn promotion is limited to becoming a queen upon reaching the sixth rank.

Winning the Game:

The objective, as in classical chess, is to checkmate the opponent's king. A stalemate results in a draw.

Makruk: Thai Chess Screenshots