Thai chess, also known as Makruk, is played on an 8x8 board similar to Western chess. The initial setup largely mirrors Western chess, but with key differences: 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).
King, rook, and pawn movements largely follow Western chess rules: the king moves one square in any direction; the rook moves any number of unoccupied squares horizontally or vertically; and the pawn moves one square forward, capturing diagonally forward. The game supports single-player AI, two-player local play, and online multiplayer.
Piece Movement Details:
- King: Moves as in Western chess. Castling is not allowed.
- 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 Western chess.
- Pawn: Moves one square forward, capturing one square diagonally forward, as in Western chess. Promotion is only to a queen upon reaching the sixth rank.
Winning the Game:
Checkmating the opponent's king wins the game. A stalemate results in a draw.
