Thai Chess: A Unique Take on the Classic Game

Thai chess, played on an 8x8 board, shares similarities with classical chess but boasts key distinctions. The initial setup mirrors classical chess, except for two crucial differences: the white queen starts on e1 and the white king on d1 (each king is to the left of its queen from the player's perspective); and pawns begin on the third rank (white on the third, black on the sixth).

King, rook, and pawn movements largely align with their classical counterparts. The king moves one square in any direction, the rook moves any number of unoccupied squares horizontally or vertically, and the pawn advances one square forward and captures diagonally forward. The game supports single-player AI, two-player local play, and online multiplayer.

Piece Movement Specifics:

• King: Moves as in European chess. Castling is not permitted.
• Queen: Moves only one square diagonally.
• Rook: Moves any number of unoccupied squares horizontally or vertically.
• Bishop: Moves one square diagonally in any direction or one square forward vertically.
• Knight: Moves in an "L" shape (two squares in one direction, then one square perpendicularly), as in European chess.
• Pawn: Moves one square forward vertically and captures one square diagonally forward, similar to European chess. Pawns promote only to queens upon reaching the sixth rank.

Winning the Game:

Checkmating the opponent's king results in victory, as in classical chess. A stalemate (pat) ends the game in a draw.