Makruk

Makruk, also known as Thai chess, is a strategic board game akin to chess, yet boasting unique rules and pieces. Played on an 8x8 board, it features pieces including a king, queen, and various pawns, each with distinct movement patterns. The objective remains to checkmate the opponent's king. Makruk demands significant tactical prowess and strategic foresight, contributing to its popularity in Thailand.

Key Makruk Features:

• AI Opponents: Challenge yourself against AI opponents with difficulty levels ranging from Easy to Expert.
• Daily Challenges: Sharpen your skills with a new challenge each day.
• Global Leaderboard: Compete globally and climb the rankings.
• Game Sharing: Share your masterful moves with friends and family.
• Undo & Save/Load: Correct mistakes and save your progress for later sessions.
• Timed Gameplay: Elevate the excitement with a timer.

Makruk (Thai: หมากรุก; rtgs: Mak Ruk), or Thai chess, traces its lineage back to the 6th-century Indian game of chaturanga, making it a close relative to modern chess. It's considered the closest surviving relative to the common ancestor of all chess variants. While approximately two million Thais play Makruk, only 5000 play international chess.

According to former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik, Makruk is strategically more complex than international chess, demanding meticulous planning due to its resemblance to a perpetual endgame in international chess.

Rules Summary:

• Pawn (เบี้ย bia): Moves and captures like a chess pawn, but lacks the two-step initial move and en passant capture. Reaching the sixth rank results in automatic promotion to a queen (med).
• Queen (เม็ด met): The weakest piece, moving one square diagonally.
• Bishop (โคน khon): Moves one square diagonally or one square forward.
• Knight (ม้า ma): Moves like a chess knight.
• Rook (เรือ ruea): Moves like a chess rook.
• King (Ang): Moves like a chess king, with a once-allowed special initial "Ses" move (now obsolete in Thailand). Checkmate ends the game.

Recent Updates:

Bug fixes implemented.