Makruk (thai หมากรุก) (or Thai Chess. Expressed "Makruk", with a low-"shaking" tone while saying "Mak" and a high-level tone when saying "ruk") is a board game descended from the 6th century Indian game of chaturanga or a close relative thereof, and therefore related to Western chess. It is regarded as the most similar living game to this common ancestor of all chess variants. Makruk is popular in Thailand and Cambodia.

Rules

Pieces

• Pawns (called biia, a cowrie shell formerly used for money - thai เบี้ย) move like pawns in chess, except: pawns cannot move two on the first move. Pawns cannot capture en-passant. When a pawn reaches the 6th rank it is promoted to a queen (met)
• Rook (called reuua, boat - thai เรือ) moves like a rook in chess.
• Knight (called maa, horse - thai ม้า) moves like a knight in chess.
• Bishop (called khohn - thai โคน) moves one step in any diagonal direction or one step forward (as silver general in Shogi).
• Queen (called met or minister เม็ด) moves one step in any diagonal direction (as the Fers in Shatranj).
• King (called khoon, the lowest rank of the ancient Thai civil nobility - thai ขุน) moves like a king in chess. The game ends when the king is checkmated.

In starting position, pawns are placed on 3rd and 6th rank. Queens are placed at the right side of Kings. Pawns promote to Queens when they reach 6th rank. There is no castling.

Counting rules

When neither side has any pawns the game must be completed within a certain number of moves or it is declared a draw. When a piece is captured the count starts again from scratch.

• When neither side has any pawns left mate must be achieved in 64 moves.

When one side has no major pieces left (rook, knight or bishop) the stronger side is given a count value based on pieces it has left:

• At least two rooks: 8 moves
• At least one rook: 16 moves
• At least two bishops: 22 moves
• At least two knights: 32 moves
• At least one bishop: 44 moves
• At least one knight: 64 moves
• Both sides have only queens left: 64 moves

From these starting values, subtract 1 for each piece on the board. The resulting number is how many moves the stronger side has to win, otherwise the game becomes a draw.

For example, if white has two rooks and a knight against a lone black king, he has 3 moves to checkmate his opponent (the given value of 8 minus the total number of pieces, 5). If black captures a white rook, the count restarts and white now has 12 moves to checkmate his opponent (the given value of 16 minus the total number of pieces, 4).

References

• H.J.R. Murray (1913). A History of Chess. ISBN 0936317019.
• D.B. Pritchard (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. ISBN 0952414201.

External links

• How to play Thai Chess
• Makruk | Chess Variant Pages
• Makruk: Chess in Cambodia
• Ouk Chatrang, the Cambodian Chess and Makruk, the Thai Chess

Chess variants | Chaturanga game family | Makruk | Ajedrez tailandés | Makruk | マークルック | หมากรุกไทย | 泰國象棋