Description

Makruk: Thai Chess is a Thai board game related to chess. Presumably, it comes directly from the ancient Indian game of Chaturanga, considered the ancestor of modern chess. In Thailand, the game is more popular than classical chess. The board has the same dimensions as in classical chess: 8 × 8 cells. The initial arrangement generally coincides with the arrangement in classical chess, but has two differences: the white queen is located on the e1 square, the white king is on the d1 square (that is, each king is to the left of his queen, as viewed from the player’s side); pawns are located on the third rank from the player (that is, white on the third, and black on the sixth). The only piece whose move completely coincides with the move of the corresponding piece in classical chess is the knight. The usual moves of the king, rook and pawn are the same as in chess: the king moves one square horizontally, vertically or diagonally, the rook moves any number of free squares vertically or horizontally, the pawn moves one square forward and attacks one square diagonally forward. Piece moves: The king moves like in European chess. There is no possibility of castling (moving the king towards the rook). Queen - moves only one point diagonally. Rook - can move any number of squares horizontally or vertically, provided that there are no pieces in its path. Elephant - move one square diagonally in any direction or one square forward vertically. Knight - moves two squares vertically and then one square horizontally, or vice versa, two squares horizontally and one square vertically (same as in the European counterpart). Pawn - moves one step forward vertically, and cuts one step forward diagonally, as in European chess. A pawn can only turn into an analogue of a queen, reaching the sixth rank. Victory Conditions: As in classical chess, the object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. Pat brings a draw.