[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":154},["ShallowReactive",2],{"bot-khaml":3},{"id":4,"aboutLong":5,"age":6,"botId":7,"country":8,"countryCode":9,"dataHash":10,"dateModified":11,"elo":12,"extension":13,"faq":14,"favoriteQuote":24,"gender":25,"hello":26,"introduction":27,"isTrophy":28,"liveDate":29,"luckyCharm":30,"meta":31,"name":32,"occupation":33,"openingAxes":34,"openingsAnalysis":36,"playstyle":37,"playstyleSummary":39,"ratingHistory":40,"shortName":116,"similar":117,"stem":151,"trophyQuirk":36,"trophyUnlock":36,"whoShouldPlay":152,"__hash__":153},"bots/bots/khaml.json","Boonmee Khamlue is a 63-year-old elephant mahout and bamboo-stick whittler from the hills outside Chiang Mai, Thailand, who learned chess in the evenings from a Dutch volunteer who visited the sanctuary each winter. At an estimated 28 ELO, Boonmee is a true beginner on the board: he knows how the pieces move, but has never studied theory and plays only a handful of games a year on a wooden board he carved himself. Forty years of walking the same herd through the same hills have given him patience, not technique, and that patience does not translate into chess plans. He blunders pieces in most games and rarely sees more than one move ahead. Visitors who sit down across from Boonmee should expect a slow, gentle game with frequent unforced gifts, and a quiet companion who treats every move like a sapling being trimmed.","63","khaml","Thailand","th","fd9d9b7b1b5f2ecc79fa3b171a854c51d9a4a8f9bec58372d232be6f13d786d8","2026-07-06",28,"json",[15,18,21],{"question":16,"answer":17},"What rating is Boonmee?","Boonmee plays at an estimated 28 ELO, which is barely above random play. He knows how the pieces move but cannot follow a plan, and he blunders pieces in almost every game.",{"question":19,"answer":20},"What opening does Boonmee play?","Boonmee has no fixed opening repertoire on file. He learned the game casually from a Dutch volunteer and has never studied theory, so his first moves vary from game to game and are usually chosen by feel rather than by name.",{"question":22,"answer":23},"Is Boonmee a good first opponent for someone learning chess?","Yes, Boonmee is well suited for someone just starting out, because at 28 ELO he will not punish basic mistakes and often gives material back on his own. New players can use the games to practice moving every piece with intent and finishing with a simple checkmate.","The bamboo is patient. The elephant remembers. So should we.","male","Sawadee krap, I am Boonmee. Come, sit a while. The board is a quiet morning in the hills, we walk slow, we watch the little herd, we see what the bamboo wants to tell us. I do not play often, but the company is good. Sabaai sabaai.","Boonmee has spent forty years walking the same hills outside Chiang Mai with the same small herd of elephants, and almost as long shaping bamboo into walking sticks for the sanctuary's visitors. He learned both crafts from his grandfather, who taught him that an elephant and a piece of bamboo will tell you what they want if you watch long enough. He picked up chess from a Dutch volunteer who came back every winter for ten years, and now he plays evenings on a wooden board he carved himself.",false,"2026-05-08T00:00:00.000Z","A short length of pale bamboo, half-whittled, kept in his shirt pocket — the next stick he is shaping, never the same one twice.",{},"Boonmee Khamlue","Chiang Mai elephant mahout bamboo-stick whittler",{"solid_sharp":35,"unprepared_theoretical":35},0,null,{"defensive_aggressive":35,"simplifying_complicating":35,"category":38},3,"Boonmee plays without any clear leaning, drifting between cautious shuffling and the occasional curious push, since he has no opening repertoire and no plan to lean on. He neither trades pieces off quickly nor builds tension on purpose, the position simply happens around him. Most games he loses material to a single oversight, then keeps walking the remaining little herd quietly through the forest until the game ends.",[41,43,45,47,49,51,53,55,57,59,61,63,65,67,69,72,74,76,78,80,82,84,86,88,91,93,95,98,100,102,104,106,108,110,112,114],{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":42},1778259361315,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":44},1778270216667,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":46},1778277153380,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":48},1778281958059,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":50},1778283459743,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":52},1778296380298,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":54},1778298651210,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":56},1778309808276,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":58},1778335669042,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":60},1778358520074,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":62},1778377722250,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":64},1778381135853,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":66},1778426109618,{"rating":12,"msSinceEpoch":68},1778427742859,{"rating":70,"msSinceEpoch":71},27,1778433855532,{"rating":70,"msSinceEpoch":73},1778467326900,{"rating":70,"msSinceEpoch":75},1778475500426,{"rating":70,"msSinceEpoch":77},1778558404710,{"rating":70,"msSinceEpoch":79},1778580791647,{"rating":70,"msSinceEpoch":81},1778585080994,{"rating":70,"msSinceEpoch":83},1778596559540,{"rating":70,"msSinceEpoch":85},1778596736332,{"rating":70,"msSinceEpoch":87},1778602120999,{"rating":89,"msSinceEpoch":90},13,1778623200580,{"rating":89,"msSinceEpoch":92},1778705354658,{"rating":89,"msSinceEpoch":94},1778712481738,{"rating":96,"msSinceEpoch":97},12,1778712780372,{"rating":96,"msSinceEpoch":99},1778726372338,{"rating":96,"msSinceEpoch":101},1778776555952,{"rating":96,"msSinceEpoch":103},1778842733322,{"rating":96,"msSinceEpoch":105},1778849247578,{"rating":96,"msSinceEpoch":107},1778861461888,{"rating":96,"msSinceEpoch":109},1778868020420,{"rating":96,"msSinceEpoch":111},1778880583803,{"rating":96,"msSinceEpoch":113},1778979772664,{"rating":96,"msSinceEpoch":115},1779378352941,"Boonmee",{"sameStyle":118,"different":136},[119,124,130],{"botId":120,"name":121,"elo":70,"country":122,"countryCode":123,"category":38},"marche","Adriana Marchetti","Argentina","ar",{"botId":125,"name":126,"elo":127,"country":128,"countryCode":129,"category":38},"natar","Lakshmi Natarajan",22,"India","in",{"botId":131,"name":132,"elo":133,"country":134,"countryCode":135,"category":38},"choi","Choi Dae-ho",19,"South Korea","kr",[137,144],{"botId":138,"name":139,"elo":140,"country":141,"countryCode":142,"category":143},"apuri","Reymar Apurillo",31,"Philippines","ph",4,{"botId":145,"name":146,"elo":147,"country":148,"countryCode":149,"category":150},"tuan","Phạm Anh Tuấn",24,"Vietnam","vn",2,"bots/khaml","Boonmee is a comfortable opponent for absolute beginners, roughly in the 100 to 400 rating range, who want a friendly board to practice piece coordination and basic checkmates against. Because he has no defensive or aggressive bias and no theoretical knowledge, newer players can experiment freely with openings and tactics without being punished. Anyone above intermediate level will find the games one-sided and short.","h6vDAWrBWG5lcR8qWGxYY47KAOHDeS1EszU_OS4Ho60",1784583540941]