If you’ve spent any amount of time in Thailand you’ve no doubt seen it being played in all manner of places by Thai’s and probably wondered to yourself just what exactly are they playing? well, if you haven’t already guessed they are playing Thai chess. Makruk is one of the most popular board games in Thailand today and it’s estimated that over 2 million Thai’s play on a regular basis.
Makruk is a direct decedent of the 6th century Indian game of Chaturanga which is regarded as the common ancestor of all chess games. Makruk is the only variant on chess that is played today that most closely resembles the Indian game of Chaturanga.
While Makruk looks slightly similar to it’s Western cousin that’s where the similarity ends as the majority of the pieces move differently and the board isn’t set up exactly the same which makes for a much more challenging game. When looking at the Thai Chess pieces you’ll probably only recognize one piece right away and that would be the Knight, which is the only piece that looks and moves exactly the same as it does in Western Chess.
The Bia ( Pawn ) Starts off on the third row of the chess board instead of the second row as in Western chess. The Bia can only move one space forward at a time except when taking another piece which is done diagonally. Once the Bia moves three squares forward, to the opposing players Bia square, it is promoted to a queen unlike in western chess when a pawn needs to go all the way over to the opposite end of the board.
The Rua ( Rook ) moves exactly as it does in western chess which is as many squares as you want vertically or horizontally at a time. Because Thai chess is played a little differently than Western chess the Rua becomes a much more powerful piece if still in use at the end of a game.
The Khon ( Bishop ) can move one square diagonally in every direction or one square forward. In Thai chess the Khon is used primarily to protect the Khun ( King ) and plays a much more important role towards the end of a game.
The Khun ( King ) moves exactly as the King does in Western chess. One square at a time in any direction.
The Met ( Queen ) can move diagonally in every direction but only one square at a time. as in Western chess the Met is a very important attack piece as well as protection for the Khun ( King ).
The Ma ( Knight ) moves exactly as it does in Western Chess. Two steps in one direction and then one step perpendicular to that movement, or one step in any one direction and two steps perpendicular. It jumps over any pieces in the way.
The game is played on an un-checkered 8×8 square board. The opening set up is very similar to Western chess except that the white King and Queen are reversed and the pawns start off on the third row of the board. The object of the game is also the same as Western chess which is to checkmate the King.
One of the most interesting, and also confusing, aspects of the game are the counting rules. When the last pawn has been removed from the board the counting rules come into play. At this point checkmate must be made within 64 moves or a draw is declared. When a new piece is captured the counting starts over again.
The disadvantaged player does the counting and may also stop the counting at any time. When the last piece that is not the king is captured from the disadvantaged player the counting will start again and will be determined by the amount of major pieces left on the opposing players side. Such as:
- If there are 2 rooks left: 8 moves
If there is 1 rook left: 16 moves
If there are no rooks left, but there are 2 bishop: 22 moves
If there are no rooks left, but there is 1 bishop: 44 moves
If there are no rooks or bishops left, but there are 2 knights: 32 moves
If there are no rooks or bishops left, but there is 1 knight: 64 moves
If there are no rooks, bishops, or knights, but queens: 64 moves
If checkmate hasn’t been reached in the required amount of moves then the game is declared a draw. The counting is maintained by the disadvantaged player out loud and as stated before the disadvantaged player can stop counting all together or not resume counting when a piece is taken. All rather confusing and steeped in much debate throughout the chess playing world.
I’ve played Makruk quite a few times now and have lost miserably all of those times before counting ever became a problem. If you like chess then you might find Makruk right up your ally. You can click the link below if you would like to try your hand at a game against a computer.
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