Makruk — Thai Chess Online
Play Thai chess free online — the closest living relative of the ancient game, with pawns on the third rank, a one-step queen and the famous counting rules.
- Family
- Traditional chess of Asia
- Origin
- Thailand
- Board
- 8 × 8
- Players
- 2
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Choose a mode inside the board: two players, vs computer, or online with a room code.
Open full screen ↗Part of Chess Games of the World — 40+ chess variants and classic board games in one place.
About Makruk
How Makruk is played
Makruk is played on an unchequered 8 × 8 board with the familiar 16 pieces, but the pawns start on the third and sixth ranks and the king and queen are swapped compared with Western chess. Pawns move a single square, so there is no double step and no en passant.
The queen (Met) moves only one square diagonally and the bishop (Khon) one square diagonally or straight forward — the same move as a Shogi silver general. Knights and rooks are unchanged, which makes them the strongest pieces on the board.
Promotion and the counting rules
A pawn promotes as soon as it reaches the sixth rank, becoming a Met that moves one square diagonally. Because promotion is so early and so modest, Makruk games are slow, positional and decided in the endgame.
When a player has no pawns left, a move count begins and the stronger side must deliver mate within a fixed number of moves — 8 with two rooks, 16 with one, up to 64 with a lone knight. If the count runs out, the game is drawn.
Winning the game
Checkmate wins; stalemate is a draw. Thailand holds national championships, and Makruk is the best introduction to the older, slower branch of the chess family.