Thai Chess: A Guide to Gameplay
Thai chess, a game played on an 8x8 board, shares similarities with classical chess but features key distinctions. The initial setup largely mirrors classical chess, with two notable exceptions: 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 placed on the third rank (white) and sixth rank (black).
Piece Movement:
- King: Moves one square horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, as in European chess. Castling is not permitted.
- Queen: Moves only one point diagonally. (This is a significant difference from European chess).
- Rook: Moves any number of unoccupied squares horizontally or vertically.
- Bishop: Moves one square diagonally in any direction or one square forward vertically. (Also a difference from European chess).
- Knight: Moves in an "L" shape: two squares vertically followed by one square horizontally, or vice-versa (identical to European chess).
- Pawn: Moves one square forward vertically and captures one square diagonally forward (similar to European chess). Pawns promote only to queens upon reaching the sixth rank.
Winning the Game:
Checkmating the opponent's king secures victory, as in classical chess. A stalemate results in a draw. The game can be played against AI, a human on the same device, or an online opponent.
