• Combines the features of three popular board games: Thai, Chinese and international chess formats.
• Easy to learn: The move directions of each piece are shown as a graphic icon on the face of the piece. Players with previous experience on similar chess variants (Thai-Chinese, Thai-International, and Chinese-International) will be able to grasp the Oxeli concept and develop playing strategies in a snap.
• OXELI is named after the starting positions of the pieces on the home rank.
  

Board	64 squares; identical to international chess board.
Pieces	Flat circular tablets (à la Chinese chess pieces) each inscribed with its name on the face: ,,,,, and Black and White or other colour schemes may be used to differentiate the opposing sides.

Starting Positions	Similar to starting positions of Thai chess: the second rank is left blank; the pawns – or the Dot (.) pieces – are on the third rank. Each king (the O piece) is placed on the fourth square from the left. This puts the O's on two adjacent files; unlike international chess where the kings are on the same file (See Additional Rules).

PIECE	MOVE and CAPTURE	Similarities with other chess formats
		International	Chinese	Thai
	Moves and captures via one square in all directions – horizontal, vertical and diagonal. A player is not allowed to move, or expose, his so that it faces directly with the opposite , horizontally, vertically or diagonally. This No Face-Off rule provides the with long-range control over the opposing in all directions - much like the Queen of international chess - because the opposing is prohibited from moving onto the same path.	King       Queen	- King (no face-off vertically)	Khun
	Similar to the Bishop. Moves and captures diagonally via any numbers of squares. The is allowed to "shift color" by moving and capturing onto an adjacent empty square of opposite color. After shifting, the can then traverse diagonally (any number of squares) on the shifted colour in next move. This rule enhances the capabilities of to that of two Bishops. With the above rule, the may capture an enemy piece on an adjacent square horizontally or vertically.	Bishop 2 Bishops	Shi (Guard) (Limited to one-square moves.)	Med (Limited to one-square moves.)
	Moves horizontally and vertically any number of squares. Capturing require the presence of an intervening piece of either side. (Imagine E firing a cannonball spinning over the intervening piece to hit the enemy on the same rank or file.)	-	Pao (Cannon)	-
	Moves and captures in similar manner as the Knight of international chess. Or in the shape of the letter L.	Knight	Ma (Horse)	Ma
	Moves and captures in similar manner as international-chess Rook — any number of squares horizontally and vertically.	Rook	Ju (Chariot)	Rua
	Moves and captures á la Pawn: one square forward when advancing, and diagonally when capturing. The initial move of any is limited to one square	Pawn	-	Bia
	Upon reaching the eighth rank, the is promoted to an -cum- , empowering it to move and capture in the same manner as a Queen.	Promoted Pawn (to Queen)	-	-

Click PIECE to view detail.

Note:

• To denote a promoted Queen, stack two pawns on the square - in same manner as a promoted piece in draughts (checkers). When writing game notations, simply use the letter .
• On our OXELI app for mobile devices, a promoted pawn is show as .
  

In general, Oxeli is played very much like international chess. Players take turns to move their pieces. Only one piece is allowed to move at a time; no castling is allowed. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent. If the of a player is in check, the player must do one of the following: 1)

1. Capture the checking piece
2. Block the threat by moving a piece to shield
3. Move out of harm's way. Inability to make any of these moves means is checkmated.

A player may concede a game whenever he so desires.

A draw may agreed upon by the players in a situation where the material and/or positional strength of either side show no advantages over those of the other. An example is whem both sides are left with and , wherein the would very likely become ineffectual without an intervening piece (see table above). The rare situation where a win is possible is shown in the picture . Note that the black , pinned on the bottom rank, can serve as the intervening piece for the white to check the black . At the same time the black cannot escape by moving up because doing so would violate the No Face-Off Rule.


to minimize the likelihood of a draw, the additional rules below are enforced.

1. Lack of legal moves is a loss. While a stalemate, or draw, is possible in Thai and international chess, it is ruled out in the Chinese variant wherein the player who is depleted of all possible moves is the losing side. This rule may be applied to Oxeli in order to minimize the likelihood of a draw. With this rule in place, the weaker player who is left with a lone will eventually be depleted of all possible moves, thereby losing the game. In the rare cases where all the men have been dispensed with leaving only the two 's on the board, the player with positional advantage can still force a win because he will be able to corner the weaker – bearing in mind the No Face-off rule above – and deprive it of a next move. see picture
2. Repetitive moves are not allowed. Aplayer is prohibited from stalling a game by repeating a move more than three consecutive times - regardless of the move being a check or an ineffectual threat to any other enemy piece. After the lapse of such repetitions, the player is compelled to come up with a fresh, new move.