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Play now — it's freeMakruk (Thai chess) is a two-player strategy game on an 8×8 board with 16 pieces per side: a khun (king), a met, two khon, two ma (horses), two ruea (boats) and eight bia (pawns). Players alternate single moves, and the winner is whoever checkmates the enemy khun. Its signature rules are the forced promotion of pawns on the sixth rank and the counting rules that cap the endgame once the pawns are gone.
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→ Full Makruk rules · เวอร์ชันภาษาไทย
Played on an 8×8 board (64 squares) by two players, each with 16 pieces: khun, met, two khon, two ma, two ruea and eight bia. The first player moves first and players alternate. You win by checkmating the enemy khun. A bia reaching its sixth rank is always promoted to a promoted pawn (bia-ngai) that moves diagonally like the met, and once all pawns leave the board the counting rules force the game to a decision within a limited number of moves.
Each piece has its own move; every direction toward the opponent counts as "forward":
| Piece | Count | Movement |
|---|---|---|
| Khun (king) | 1 | One square in any direction |
| Met (queen) | 1 | One square diagonally |
| Khon | 2 | One square straight forward, or one square diagonally |
| Ma (horse) | 2 | A knight jump (two forward, one sideways — and all directions), over any pieces |
| Ruea (boat) | 2 | Any distance orthogonally |
| Bia (pawn) | 8 | One square straight forward (moves and captures the same way) |
Makruk is Thai chess: a two-player strategy game on an 8×8 board with 16 pieces per side, known for pawn promotion on the sixth rank and the counting rules that decide pawnless endgames.
Sixteen per player (32 in total): a khun and a met, two khon, two ma (horses), two ruea (boats) and eight bia (pawns).
Pawns move and capture only straight ahead with no double step and no en passant, there is no castling, pawns promote on the sixth rank to a diagonal-moving promoted pawn, stalemate is a draw, and counting rules cap pawnless endgames.
By checkmating the enemy khun — when it is attacked and no legal move escapes, the game ends immediately. Moves exposing your own khun are illegal.
A bia reaching its sixth rank is always and immediately promoted to bia-ngai ("overturned cowrie"), which moves one square diagonally in any direction like the met.
With no unpromoted pawns on the board, the allowed moves equal 64 minus the pieces left on the board. If the disadvantaged side has a bare khun, the allowance comes from a table: 2 boats = 8, 1 boat = 16, 2 khon = 22, 2 horses = 32, 1 khon = 44, 1 horse = 64, otherwise 64. If the allowance runs out without checkmate, the game is a draw.
No — a player with no legal moves whose khun is not attacked is stalemated and the game is a draw, exactly like Western chess.
Yes — play Makruk online free at makruk.yeeqia.com, straight in your browser with no download or sign-up required.
Yes, the site is mobile-first and runs in any modern browser on Android or iPhone, with full Thai support.
The counting rules force a decision in pawnless endgames, and a 300-move safety limit ends any game as a draw. Each move allows 40 seconds, after which an automated assistant plays.