Makruk

Further information: Chess (disambiguation)

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Makruk, starting position.

Makruk (Thai: หมากรุก [màkrúk]), or Thai chess, is a board game descended from the 6th-century Indian game of chaturanga or a close relative thereof, and therefore related to chess. It is regarded as the most similar living game to this common ancestor of all chess variants.^[1]

Makruk is popular in Thailand and Cambodia. In these countries the game is more popular than chess. There are around two million Thais who can play Makruk, of whom about 5000 also play chess.^[2]

According to former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik, "Makruk Thai is more strategic than international chess. You have to plan your operations with total care since Makruk Thai can be compared to an anticipated endgame of International Chess."^[3]

Rules

Pieces

• The pawn (called เบี้ย bia, a cowry shell, formerly used for money) moves and captures like a pawn in international chess, but cannot move two steps on the first move and, therefore, cannot capture en passant. A pawn that reaches the sixth rank is always promoted to a queen (met).

○ ● ○       P

• The queen^[4][5] (called เม็ด met, seed^[4]), the weakest piece, moves one step in any diagonal direction, like the fers in Shatranj.

●   ●       Q       ●   ●

• The bishop (called โคน khon or thon, nobleman^[4] or mask^[5]) moves one step in any diagonal direction or one step forward, like the silver general in Shogi.

● ● ●       B       ●   ●

• The knight (called ม้า ma, horse) moves like a knight in Western chess: two steps in one direction and then one step perpendicular to that movement. It jumps over any pieces in the way.

●   ●   ●       ●     KT     ●       ●   ●   ●

• The rook (called เรือ rua, boat) moves like a rook in Western chess: any number of steps horizontally or vertically.

│         │     ─ ─ R ─ ─     │         │

• The king (called ขุน khun, meaning either a feudal lord or a title-holder of the lowest ranks in the ancient Thai nobility) moves like a king in international chess - one step in any direction. The game ends when the king is checkmated.

● ● ●     ● K ●     ● ● ●

English	king(1)	queen(1)	bishop(2)	knight(2)	rook(2)	pawn(8)	promoted pawn(queen)
Thai	ขุน	เม็ด	โคน	ม้า	เรือ	เบี้ย	เบี้ยหงาย
RTGS	khun	met	khon	ma	rua	bia	bia-ngai
Meaning	feudal lord	seed	nobleman/mask	horse	boat	cowry shell	Overturned Cowry Shell

In starting position, pawns are placed on the third and sixth ranks. Queens are placed at the right side of kings. Pawns promote (เบี้ยหงาย bia ngai, flipped cowry shell) and move like queens when they reach the sixth rank. There is no castling rule like that of international chess.

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 only if it is the last piece of one side in the game.

• When neither side has any pawns left, mate must be achieved in 64 moves. The disadvantaged player does the counting, and may at any time choose to stop counting. If the disadvantaged side checkmates the advantage side and did not stop counting, the game is declared a draw.

When the last piece (that is not the King) of the disadvantaged side is captured, the count may be started, or restarted from the aforementioned counting, by the weaker side, and the stronger side now has a maximum number of moves based on the pieces left:

• If there are two rooks left: 8 moves
• If there is one rook left: 16 moves
• If there are no rooks left, but there are two bishops: 22 moves
• If there are no rooks left, but there is one bishop: 44 moves
• If there are no rooks or bishops left, but there are two knights: 32 moves
• If there are no rooks or bishops left, but there is one knight: 64 moves
• If there are no rooks, bishops, or knights, but queens: 64 moves

The weaker side pronounces aloud the counting of his fleeing moves, starting from the number of pieces left on the board, including both kings. The stronger side has to checkmate his opponent's king before the maximum number is pronounced, otherwise the game is drawn. During this process, the count may restart if the counting side would like to stop and start counting again.

For example, if White has two rooks and a knight against a lone Black king, he has three 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 does not automatically restart, unless Black is willing to do so, at his own disadvantage. However, many players do not understand this and restart the counting while fleeing the king.

References

1. ^ Murray, H.J.R. (1913). A History of Chess. Benjamin Press (originally published by Oxford University Press). ISBN 0-936-317-01-9. 
2. ^ Pritchard, D. (2000). Popular Chess Variants. Bastford Chess Books. ISBN 0-7134-8578-7. 
3. ^ Kramnik plays Makruk Thai by Dr. René Gralla.
4. ^ ^{a b c} How to Play Thai Chess - Makruk - Mak-rook - Makrook - Xiangqi - Shogi
5. ^ ^{a b} Makruk: Thai Chess

External links

• How to play Thai Chess
• How to play Thai Chess - by Ancient Chess.com
• Makruk | Chess Variant Pages
• Makruk: Chess in Cambodia
• Mini Makruk
• Ouk Chatrang, the Cambodian Chess and Makruk, the Thai Chess
• Peace Thai Chess
• Play Thai Chess Online
• Internet Makruk Server (thai. und engl.)