Thailand and Cambodia

Makruk

Also called Thai chess

Makruk is the chess of Thailand, and a close relative, ouk chatrang, is played in Cambodia. It keeps older rules that Western chess changed centuries ago.

It is played in markets and homes, and many players say it is closer to the original game from which chess grew.

The rules, briefly

The board is eight by eight. Pawns start on the third row, not the second.
The queen, called the met, moves just one square diagonally. The bishop, the khon, moves one square diagonally or one square straight forward.
A pawn that reaches the sixth row becomes a met. You win by checkmate, as in Western chess.

Try this: A slower queen

With a queen that moves only one square, attacks build slowly. Try bringing your knights and rooks forward together before you go for the king.

Play on AtlasTales (two players, one screen)

Read more: Makruk on Wikipedia. Written from published sources; if your family plays it differently, write your rules down in Heirloom Rules, and if something here is wrong, tell us: hello@sparkanvil.org.