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Makruk

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Chess variant

Makruk

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H

Makruk starting position

Years active

Unknown, predatessittuyin

Genres

Players

Setup time

< 1 minute

Playing time

From 20 mins to several hours

Chance

None

Skills

Strategy, tactics

Synonyms

Thai chess

Makruk (Thai:หมากรุก;RTGS: mak ruk;^[1]pronounced[màːkrúk]), orThai chess (Thai:หมากรุกไทย;RTGS: mak ruk thai;pronounced[màːkrúktʰaj]), is astrategy board game that is descended from the 6th-centuryIndian game ofchaturanga or a close relative thereof, and is therefore related tochess. It is part of the family ofchess variants.^[2]

InCambodia, where basically the same game is played, it is known asouk (Khmer:អុក,pronounced[ʔok]) orouk chatrang (Khmer:អុកចត្រង្គ,pronounced[ʔok.caʔ.ˈtrɑŋ]).^[3]

Origin

[edit]

The Persian traders came to theAyutthaya kingdom around the 14th century to spread their culture and to trade with the Thai kingdom. It is therefore possible that the Siamese makruk, in its present form, was directly derived from the Persian game ofshatranj via the cultural exchange between the two peoples in this period. This is because the movement of makruk's queen, or the "seed" (Thai:เม็ด), is essentially the same as theferz in shatranj.^{[citation needed]}

It is more likely, however, that the game came more directly from India given the name similarities betweenchaturanga and the Cambodian name,ouk chaktrang (Khmer:អុកចត្រង្គ), and the way the "nobleman" (Thai:โคน,Khmer:គោល) moves.^[4]^[3] In hisHistory of Chess, Murray suggests it may have followed the expansion of Buddhism in the area.^[4]

Pieces

[edit]

The design of the makruk pieces is distinctly different from Western chess pieces. The horse is noticeably the largest piece while the pawns resemblechecker pieces. The other pieces have a distinct bulbous shape.^[5]

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	ruea	bia	bia-ngai
Meaning	lord	seed	nobleman	horse	boat	cowrie shell	overturned cowrie shell

In the starting position, cowrie are placed on the third and sixthranks. Seeds are placed at the right side of lords.

Rules

[edit]

Makruk set from the early 19th century; the pawns are made fromcowrie shells

Makruk set fromearly Rattanakosin era (late 18th century) with pieces made from albino and black water buffalos' horn

Thecowrie shell moves one space forward and captures one space diagonally forward. Unlike in Western chess, the cowrie cannot advance two spaces on its first move; therefore, there is noen passant capture in makruk. A cowrie that reaches its sixth rank is always promoted. It becomes a "promoted pawn" (เบี้ยหงายbia-ngai, in Thai, meaning overturned cowrie shell), which moves one space diagonally in any direction, like the seed. Cowrie promotion is usually denoted by flipping the piece over.


○	●	○
	บ

The seed moves or captures one space diagonally, like theferz inshatranj. It has the same move as the overturned cowrie.


●		●
	ม็
●		●

The nobleman moves or captures one space diagonally or one space forward, like thesilver general inshogi.


●	●	●
	ค
●		●

The horse moves or captures two spaces orthogonally (that is, along arank orfile) and then one space perpendicular to that movement. It jumps over any pieces in the way, like theknight in Western chess.

	●		●
●				●
		ม
●				●
	●		●

The boat moves or captures any number of spaces orthogonally, like arook in Western chess.

		│
		│
─	─	ร	─	─
		│
		│

The lord moves or captures one space in any direction, like aking in Western chess. The game ends when the lord ischeckmated. The game ends as a draw if the lord isstalemated, like in Western chess and unlike shatranj.


●	●	●
●	ข	●
●	●	●

Counting rules

[edit]

When neither side has any cowries, the game must be completed within a certain number of moves or it is declared a draw. When a piece is captured the count restarts only if it is the last piece of a player in the game.

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

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

If there are two boats left: 8 moves
If there is one boat left: 16 moves
If there are no boats left, but there are two noblemen: 22 moves
If there are no boats or noblemen left, but there are two horses: 32 moves
If there are no boats left, but there is one nobleman: 44 moves
If there are no boats or noblemen left, but there is one horse: 64 moves
If there are no boats, noblemen or horses left, but only seeds: 64 moves

The disadvantaged player announces the counting of his fleeing moves, starting from the number of pieces left on the board, including both lords. The winning player has to checkmate his opponent's lord before the maximum number is announced, otherwise the game is declared a draw. During this process, the count may restart if the counting player would like to stop and start counting again.

For example, if White has two boats and a horse against a lone black lord, 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 boat, 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 with the lord.

Variants

[edit]

There are rules that do not apply to the standard, formal game, or have been abandoned in professional play. They are called sutras. The first free moves are similar to those in Cambodian ouk.

Sut Khun สูตรขุน ("King Sutra") can be compared to the castling rule inWestern chess. The rule allows the player to move the lord to a blank space on next row, like a horse, so long as the lord has not yet moved.
Sut Met สูตรเม็ด ("Queen Sutra") is the most popular sutra in informal rules. It is a first free move that allows the player to move the seed and the cowrie in front of the seed at the same time. Two pieces are moved in this sutra. First, move the cowrie in front of the seed forward; then move the seed to the blank space the cowrie has just vacated, so the seed moves two spaces forward.
Sut Ma สูตรม้า ("Knight Sutra") is a first free move that allows the player to move a horse and a cowrie a horse's move from that horse in the same turn. Two pieces are moved in this sutra. First, move the cowrie which is a horse's move from the horse forward; then move the horse to the blank space the cowrie has just vacated.
Takhaeng Ruea ตะแคงเรือ ("Boat Tilting, Rook Tilting") involves turning one or both boats upside down. This changes the boat to be a seed. This reduces the power of one or two boats.

Cambodian chess

[edit]

The Cambodian interpretation ofmakruk is calledouk (អុក[ʔok])^[6] orouk chaktrang (អុកចត្រង្គ^[7][ʔok.caʔ.ˈtrɑŋ] or[ʔok.cat.ˈtrɑŋ]),^[3] with minor differences to its Thai counterpart.^[3] Played not just in Cambodia but also byKhmers in Vietnam, who call the gamecờ ốc (lit. 'seashell chess') because of the pieces' shapes and the material once used to make them. It is a staple of the Bon Om Touk festivities.

The main rules difference involves the first movement of the lord and seed. If no pieces have been captured, the players have these options:

On the lord's first move, and only if not in check, of moving the lord like a horse; and
On the seed's first move, of moving the seed two spaces straight ahead.^[3]

A bas-relief from theKhmer Empire depicting people playing a chess-like game

There is evidence that ouk has been played in Cambodia since the 12th century through bas-reliefs on temples.^[3]

The first nationwide ouk tournament was held on 3–4 April 2008, upon the completion of a standardized rule set by theOlympic Committee of Cambodia and the Cambodian Chess Association.^[8]

In a variant known askar ouk, the first player to put the other in check wins.^[6] Another variant of Cambodian chess was described byDavid Pritchard in the first edition ofThe Encyclopedia of Chess Variants, but this was later determined to have been included in error as no such game was played in Cambodia.^[9]

Ouk is one of three traditional sports introduced by Cambodia at the2023 SEA Games, along with the martial arts ofBokator andKun Khmer.

References

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^"หมากรุก".thai-language.com. Retrieved13 November 2018.
^Murray, H. J. R. (1913).A History of Chess (Reissued ed.).Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-827403-3.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f"Ouk Chatrang, Cambodian Chess and Makruk, Thai Chess".history.chess.free.fr. Retrieved2023-06-30.
^^a ^bMurray, H. J. R. (1913). "Chapter VI Chess In Further India".A History of Chess (Reissued ed.).Oxford University Press. p. 108.ISBN 0-19-827403-3.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^"How to Play Makruk".www.ancientchess.com. Retrieved2025-11-09.
^^a ^b"Khmer Institute".www.khmerinstitute.com. Retrieved2023-02-22.
^"ចត្រង្គ (ខ្មែរ ~ English និងសំឡេង)".dict.antkh.com. Retrieved2022-12-16.
^"Cambodia to hold first ever Khmer Chess tournament".
^"Cambodian Chess".www.jsbeasley.co.uk. Retrieved2021-06-16.

External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMak Ruk.

Chess variants (list)

Orthodox rules

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Unorthodox
rules with
traditional
pieces

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Unorthodox
rules using
non-traditional
pieces

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Compound pieces	Almost chess Capablanca chess Capablanca random chess Chancellor chess Embassy chess Grand Chess Janus Chess Maharajah and the Sepoys Modern chess Seirawan chess Tutti-frutti chess
Unorthodox boards and pieces	2000 A.D. Chesquerque Chess on a really big board Courier-Spiel Dragonchess Gess Omega Chess Stratomic Dekle's triangular chess Wildebeest chess Wolf chess

Multiplayer

Inspired games

Chess-related
games

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