Makruk is still played avidly throughout Thailand and in Cambodia (where it is known as "Ok"), although the familiar western chess is also becoming popular in those areas. Each year in Thailand, a national makruk tournament is held, and the play level in competition is very high.

Arrangement

The pieces are set up, as shown above, much as they are in our modern western chess. Notice that the pawns are set on the third row, and that the queen (small piece) always begins to the right of its king (large piece).

The Pieces and Their Moves

Here are the pieces, their Thai names, and the moves they make on the board:

Did you notice that the king, queen and bishop are essentially the same shape, but different in size? Even the rook is similar, but a more squat figure. It may be confusing at first, but you will get used to distinguishing them.

Captures

All pieces capture by moving onto the square of an enemy piece and removing that piece from the board. Only the pawn has a special move for capturing; all others use their normal moves to capture.

Check and Checkmate

When a player’s king is threatened with capture (in check), he must move in such a way that the king is no longer threatened. If he can not, he is in checkmate, and the game is lost. If, however, the player finds that any move he makes will put his king in check, but he in not in check at the moment, this is a stalemate, and the game is a draw.

Drawn Games

Many games of makruk end in draws, and this is because of special rules in the endgame which permit the disadvantaged player to claim a draw in very peculiar, and sometimes rather complex, ways. The back panel of this brochure explains the special drawn game rules.

Special Drawn Game Rules

When you find yourself with a less powerful group of pieces than your opponent, there are two special rules which may draw the game:

I. The Board’s Honor Rule

If there are no unpromoted pawns on the board, and you are at a distinct disadvantage, you may begin counting your moves aloud up to 64 (the number of squares on the board). If you are able to make the 65th move and you haven’t been checkmated, the game is a draw.

II. The Pieces’ Honor Rule

Watch for the situation in which (1) you have a lone king with no remaining pieces and, at the same time (2) there are no unpromoted pawns on the board. At that moment (when your last piece is taken, or your opponent’s last pawn is promoted), you must stop and do some figuring. Follow this system carefully, and you may be able to claim a draw.

1. Find the move count number in this way. First ask,
(1) Does the opponent have 2 rooks? If so, the number is 8.
If not, go to the next question:
(2) Does he have 1 rook? If so the number is 16.
Continue to ask, in this order, until you get an affirmative answer:
(3) 2 bishops? If so, it’s 22; (4) 2 knights? If so, it’s 32;
(5) 1 bishop? If so, it’s 44; (6) any pieces at all? If so, it’s 64.

2. Now that you have the move count number, count all of the pieces on the board, including all of your opponents pieces, his king and your king. For instance if he has 1 rook, 2 bishops, 2 promoted pawns and a king, against your lone king, you count up to 7. (In this example the move count number is 16.)

3. Now, as you make your move (finally, after all that calculating), begin counting from where you left off. In the example above, your move will be counted “8.” You continue to count all of your own moves (in this example, ...9, 10, 11…) up to the move count number (in this example ...16). If you reach the move count number without being checkmated, your opponent has one final move to deliver checkmate. If he can not — congratulations — you’ve drawn the game!

The older traditional Thai chess sets used cowry shells as pawns, which come naturally in lighter and darker varieties. When they promoted, they were flipped over to show their openings.