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> Thai Chess
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Thai Chess is one of the most popular hobbies
for Thai people. Any age of Thai people can play it. Thai chess
is a little more complicated compared to word chess. I used to
play it in my freetime with my friends at my old school (Sriwittayapaknam
School). It has been more than 3 years since I have played.
I think I have lost all of my chess skills but I can still remember
how to play. Lots of people have been asking me about Thai chess
so I have made this page for them. |
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English |
Thai |
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1. Rook |
rua (boat) |
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2. Knight |
ma (horse) |
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3. Bishop |
khon |
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4. King |
khun |
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5. Queen |
met |
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6. Pawn |
bia |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
The pieces for Thai Chess are mostly different
from World Chess. There is only one you will recognise. That
is the "Knight". We called it "Ma"
which is Thai for "Horse". |
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Board Size:
8 x 8
Board Set-up:
The set-up is nealy the same as World Chess but the white Khun
are facing the black Met.
Set the pieces up from left to right:
Rua,
Ma, Khon, Khun, Met, Khon,
Ma, Rua. The Bia will be on the third and
sixth row unlike the World Chess. |
How to move:
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Khun
(King) = can move one square in each direction. Khun is
the most important one, it can't die because that will be the
end of the game. |
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Khon
(Bishop) = can move one square diagonally in every direction
or one square straight forward. Khon is the one mostly
used to protect khun. It is more useful than a knight
(ma) at the end of the game. |
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Met
(Queen) = can move diagonally in every direction, but only one
square. Met is always used to attack the opponent and
sometimes also used for protecting khun same as khon. |
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Ma
(Knight) = can move and be used the same as world chess knight. |
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Rua
(Rook) = can move and be used the same as world chess rook. It's
very powerful if you still have it near the end of the game. |
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Bia
(Pawn) = can only move one square forward at a time (unlike the
first move for world chess). When it takes another piece it does
this diagonally. After moving forward three rows, a pawn is promoted
to a queen. It doesn't have to reach the far end. Promotion is
done by turning the piece over. Bia is always used for
attacking the opponent, clearing the way and stopping the opponent
from coming forward. |
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Counting Rules
When you or your opponent only has a khun
left, it's time to start counting. You have to count your chess
pieces and your opponent pieces altogether then start counting
the next number. For example: you have three pieces and your
opponent has one piece, you have to start counting from five.
You have to checkmate the opponent before the counting finishes.
If you can't, that means "draw". |
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Chess pieces |
Moves |
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No Ma, Khon, Rua |
64 |
Ma (1 piece)
Ma (2 pieces) |
64
32 |
Khon (1 piece)
Khon (2 pieces) |
44
22 |
Rua (1 piece)
Rua (2 pieces) |
16
8 |
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Download Thai Chess for free to play on your computer
or buy a Thai chess set in my school's Online Shop. You might also like to visit
the web site for my school's Chess Club. |
