Ouk or Khmer Chess History

Ouk or Chatrang (Khmer Chess) is most played in Cambodia for a long time ago, as it is depicted in several reliefs found on a lot of temples in Cambodia such as Angkor Wat or Bayon temple. Ouk Chaktrung is one of the most popular board games played in Cambodia today. This game is dated back to the early Angkorian era in 800 AD. Ouk most closely resembles a form of chess which originated in India but the great chess historian, H. J. R. Murray, was not able to discover or trace the Indian ancestry.

Angkor Wat Relief: King Playing Chess.

Khmer chess is almost identical to Makruk, Thai chess. As Thai seized Angkor in 1431, they may have learned chess from the Khmer people. Murray believes that the word “ruk” in “Makruk” probably came from a Khmer word meaning “Ouk”.

Angkor Wat, at the south wall of Angkor Wat temple.

Bayon, the gallery outside at south east. A game chess on boat.

Bayon – South East : Playing chess in palace.

Preah Khan : Playing chess on a dragon-shaped boat.

Baphuon – the eastern tower, face east, north side : A chess match between characters of the Mahabharata. Yudhisthira, with a troubled because he lost his wife Draupadi, a female behind the board.

Phrasat Snoeung Battambang, 150 km west of Siem Reap, the town closest to Angkor (Fig. 19). The work of 10th-11th century, a lintel over a door, and portrays the same story. The third person from left is a woman who seems to undress, the fifth is the loser who has a conventional gesture of sorrow, while the winner is holding something that swings with satisfaction, apparently a piece of chess.

Preah Khan – Kompong Svay, about 150 km east of Angkor. Also in this bas-relief of 12 – 13 century, depicting the same characters, with a dozen pieces on the board. The temple is located in the great state of decay, so that we do not know if it still exists, or is still in place.