mak
ruk
noun
Third Person
makruks
1
a two-player strategy board game from Thailand, similar to chess, where players move pieces with different abilities across a board to capture their opponent's pieces and ultimately checkmate their opponent's king
Makruk, also known as Thai chess, is a traditional chess variant from Thailand. It is played on an 8x8 board, similar to regular chess, but with different pieces and movement rules. Each player starts with a king, a queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns, but the pieces move in unique ways compared to Western chess. For example, the queen moves more like a rook, and the pawns move differently, only advancing one square at a time but capturing diagonally. Additionally, pawns can promote to a queen upon reaching the farthest rank. The main goal is to checkmate the opponent's king, just like in traditional chess. Makruk has been played for centuries in Thailand and remains popular in the country today.
- I learned how to play makruk from my Thai friend last year.
- After mastering chess, I decided to try makruk for a new challenge.
- We spent the afternoon playing makruk at a local café, and I won the final game.
- My grandfather used to play makruk with his friends every Sunday afternoon.
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