Popular Chess Variants

I was able to play at a reasonable level as soon as I learned the moves of Makrook Thai.

So I was contacted by the author David B. Pritchard who asked me to write a chapter for this book about Makrook Thai.

I declined because was not certain about one rule, which was the draw rule, so I asked Mr. Pritchard to contact Prajob Nimitiyongshul about that rule.

He did, but Prajob Nimitiyongshul suggested that he contact Sunny Polasit about this.

He did but Sonny Polasit told him to contact the real expert on this, which was Sam Sloan.

In 1990 I played in the championships of Thailand in both Thai chess and international chess. I played Suchart Chaivichit in the championship of international chess. The game came down to the endgame of Rook and knight against rook. With best play this endgame is a draw. However, Suchart Chaivichit was an expert in this endgame because it comes up all the time in Makrook Thai, so he beat me.

Later I had this endgame in a tournament chess game in New York. This time I had the rook and the knight. I was able to win this endgame.

I am officially rated a Foreign Master or FM in Chinese chess or XiangQi by the World Chinese Chess Federation, or WXF. I have played in several World Championships of Xiang Qi.

There is one major omission in this book. The author failed to mention Double Bughouse Chess. This game is played as a side game where ever chess is played. It is a team game with two players on each team with two boards and two chess sets. On each team, one player plays white, his partner plays black, side by side.

Another game not mentioned in this book is Janggi or Korean chess. This game is somewhat similar to Chinese chess or xiangqi. The board is the same except there is no river in the middle. There is a long range Elephant but it is the weakest piece as its big jump is ineffective. You should try to sacrificed it for one of the other pieces if you can.