Mak-yek

Opening Position

Alternate Names

Apit-sodok is the Malaysian version of this game.

No. of Players

Two

Equipment

An 8x8 grid and sixteen each of black and white counters are required for play.

History

Mak-yek originates from Thailand and Apit-sodok originates from Malaysia. The first description of it in English is probably from HJR Murray’s A Hsitory of Board Games other than Chess. Many of the game’s rules, however, must be extrapolated from his very vague account of it.

Objective

The objective is to capture all of your opponent’s counters, the first player to do so being the winner.

Play

The game commences with the counters positioned as above. After deciding which player will go first, alternate turns entail the movement of a single friendly counter orthogonally any number of vacant spaces (the move of the Rook in Orthochess). Captures are made by both custodianship and intervention. In custodianship, a single enemy counter is captured when an opposing counter is moved into a position such that the enemy counter is surrounded by two opposing counters in an orthogonally straight line on either side. Intervention, the opposite of custodianship, occurs when a counter moves into a position between two enemy counters (the three now in an orthogonally straight line) thereby capturing both. It is not allowed to capture more than one counter by custodianship or more than two counters by intervention, but both custodianship and intervention may be achieved in a single move, allowing for capture of three enemy counters.

White captures one black counter by custodianship.

Black captures two white counters by intervention.

Here, Black captures three white counters in a single move by a combination of intervention and custodianship.

A player may not pass on his or her turn.

Strategy

Variations

Any of the following rules, mostly borrowed from the similar game of Hasami Shogi, may be added to speed up the game (in single or some combination):

• A counter positioned at any of the four corners may be captured by a special kind of custodianship in which two enemy counters are positioned at the two orthogonally adjacent cells.

• More than one enemy counter may be captured by custodianship, provided that they are in a straight line with no vacancies between them.

• A counter may jump over another counter of either color in a straight line to an immediately opposite vacant cell without capture.

Sources

1. Murray, H.J.R. A History of Board Games other than Chess. Oxford University Press, 1952.