Knights Pictorial, Part 4: Thai Horse

Makruk, or Thai chess (Thai: หมากรุก, màkrúk) is a board game regarded as the most similar living game to Chaturanga, the assumed common ancestor of all chess variants.

The game is very popular in Thailand and Cambodia where it is much more common than chess. There are around two million Thais who can play Makruk, of which about 5,000 also play chess.

There are some differences with the game we play,

а) Board is not checkered,

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б) Pawn (Bia, cowry shells that were formerly used as a small currency unit) start from the 3rd rank.

в) Promoted pawn (Bia-ngai) when pawn reaches the 6th rank, it is flipped over (the slotted side up) and its move changes to the move of the queen, one space in any diagonal direction.

г) King (Khun, leader or feudal lord; the Khun was the lowest rank of conferred nobility in the Siamese court system) same abilities as in chess; always placed on the left side

д) Queen (Met, pit or fruit stone) attacks/moves like Firz in Shantranj, that is only one square diagonally

ђ) Bishop (Khon/Thon, Nobleman; also Mask — the same word means a kind of classical Thai Royal drama, using such masks) attacks/moves as Silver General in Shogi, that is one space diagonally or one space forward.

е) Rook (Rua Boat) attacks/moves as in chess

ж) Knight (Ma Horse) attacks/moves as in chess. The great news as we are celebrating Knight is that Makruk Horse is the tallest piece of all! That's something

з) Stalemate is a draw

и) Special Drawn Game Rules is what differentiates Makruk most from chess with very complicated Counting Rules.

Makruk is a chess variant that starts off as a war game between two armies with equal number of troops. However, in endgame, the concept of pursuit and escape games (like the Vikings' Hnefatafl — check my Chess, Vikings and Assymetric Warfare blog) is incorporated. One player (the disadvantaged-side) becomes the defender and their goal turns from having checkmate as the ultimate goal, into escaping from a checkmate by means of special counting rules that aim to force a draw to end the game. Basically, a game must be completed within a certain number of moves or it is declared a draw.

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As this is a chess Knight pictorial, Part 4, here are some more Makruk Horses.

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An illustration of kids playing makruk

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Chess has been traditionally played in coffee houses, or coffee shops. Here makruk played in a tea shop

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Makruk is very popular in Thailand. The annual tournament at the Thailand Stock Exchange in Bangkok, 2006

.Three street makruk encounters in Bangkok

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White's Horse has been captured and sent back to the corral. Now eagerly waiting for its appearance in the next rodeo show  

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Makruk. Human chess the Thai way

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Ordered the book yesterday

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My first game ever played yesterday. Makruk is more strategic; solid pawn play and coordination with Rooks and Knights for activation seems essential to me.

Still not clear about the role of Queen and Bishop and how to use them effectively 

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Okay. After a brief intro to Makruk and a pleasurable acquaintance with its Ma Horse, here are some more chess Knights to meet. Today the number is 26, totaling 158 chess Knights in the last four posts!  

Aquilino Ferreira (Portuguese)

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Carlo Salomoni (Italian)

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Luiz Carlos Ferracioli (Brazilian, Mococa, SP, 1949) Figuras de Xadrez (Chessmen), 1990

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Luis Carlos Ferracioli, Peças de Xadrez

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Carlo Bolmida (Italian), Difesa_dei_due_cavalli (Two Knights Defense)

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Carlo Bolmida, Per vincere il dragone (Win the dragon)

.Carlo Bolmida, Cyborg e scacchiera (Cyborg on the chessboard) 

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Jean Paul Colbus

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Jean Paul Colbus

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Jean Paul Colbus

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Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo akak Corneille (1922-2010) Schaakbord, 1990

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Damilola (British)

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Tommy Fiendish (British), Venenum and Remedy

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Bill Bell (American), Bored 

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The Chess Artist: Genius, Obsession, and the World's Oldest Game by J. C. Hallman

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Elisabeth I in Le donne e il potere: Un eterno, perverso gioco. A play by Paolo Leone, Roma, Teatro dei Conciatori, 2015

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Chessmen like real men, by Soo-k

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The book cover of Vlado Vukovic's Introduction to chess

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The Knight move

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André Martins de Barros, Checkmate

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Vito Campanella (Italian Argentinian)

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Vito Campanella 

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Vito Campanella

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Ella Nowak (German), The ways of life

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Ella Nowak Thefate of life

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Chess graffiti in Valparaiso, Chile

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Thanks for watching!

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Further watching:

Part 1) Horsey, a Cult Chess Figure, in Arts

Part 2) Why Does Knight Move Г-Shape? 

Part 3) Meet Knight's Family! (plus 60+ New Knight Pix)

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