Makruk: Thai Chess

Thai Chess: A Digital Adaptation of a Classic

Thai Chess, played on an 8x8 board, shares similarities with classical chess but features key distinctions. The initial setup mirrors classical chess, except for two crucial differences: the white queen starts on e1 and the white king on d1 (each king positioned to the left of its queen from the player's perspective); and pawns are positioned on the third rank (white) and sixth rank (black).

Piece movement largely follows classical chess rules:

• King: Moves one square horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. 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.
• Knight: Moves in an "L" shape (two squares in one direction, then one square perpendicularly), as in classical chess.
• Pawn: Moves one square forward vertically, and captures one square diagonally forward, as in classical chess. Pawns promote only to queens upon reaching the sixth rank.

Gameplay and Victory:

The game aims to checkmate the opponent's king, just like in classical chess. A stalemate results in a draw. The game supports single-player mode against AI, local two-player mode on a single device, and online multiplayer.