Makruk: Thai Chess

Thai Chess: A Guide to Gameplay

Thai chess, also known as Makruk, shares similarities with classical chess, utilizing an 8x8 board. The initial setup largely mirrors classical chess, but with key distinctions: 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).


Standard chess piece movements for the king and rook remain consistent: the king moves one square in any direction, and the rook moves any number of unoccupied squares horizontally or vertically. Pawns advance one square forward and capture diagonally forward, as in Western chess. The game supports single-player modes with AI, local two-player games 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.
• Horse (Knight): Moves in an "L" shape—two squares in one direction (horizontally or vertically) and then one square perpendicularly, as in European chess.
• Pawn: Moves one square forward vertically and captures one square diagonally forward, mirroring European chess rules. Pawns promote only to 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.