Thai Chess: A Unique Take on the Classic Game
Thai chess, a captivating board game, unfolds on an 8x8 grid identical to classical chess. The initial setup largely mirrors its Western counterpart, but with key distinctions: 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); pawns occupy the third rank for white and the sixth for black.
The movement of kings, rooks, and pawns largely aligns with standard chess rules:
- King: Moves one square horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Castling is not permitted.
- Rook: Moves any number of unoccupied squares horizontally or vertically.
- Pawn: Moves one square forward and captures one square diagonally forward. Pawns promote only to queens upon reaching the sixth rank.
However, other pieces deviate from classical chess:
- Queen: Moves only one square diagonally.
- Bishop: Moves one square diagonally in any direction or one square forward vertically.
- Knight: Moves in an "L" shape – two squares vertically then one horizontally, or vice versa (identical to Western chess).
The objective, as in classical chess, is to checkmate the opponent's king. A stalemate results in a draw. The game supports single-player mode against AI, local two-player matches on a single device, and online multiplayer.
