THE QUEEN'S JOURNEY.
(
The Guarded Chessboard)
Place the queen on her own square, as shown in the illustration, and
then try to discover the greatest distance that she can travel over the
board in five queen's moves without passing over any square a second
time. Mark the queen's path on the board, and note carefully also that
she must never cross her own track. It seems simple enough, but the
reader may find that he has tripped.
Answer:
The correct solution to this puzzle is shown in the diagram by the dark
line. The five moves indicated will take the queen the greatest distance
that it is possible for her to go in five moves, within the conditions.
The dotted line shows the route that most people suggest, but it is not
quite so long as the other. Let us assume that the distance from the
centre of any square to the centre of the next in the same horizontal or
vertical line is 2 inches, and that the queen travels from the centre of
her original square to the centre of the one at which she rests. Then
the first route will be found to exceed 67.9 inches, while the dotted
route is less than 67.8 inches. The difference is small, but it is
sufficient to settle the point as to the longer route. All other routes
are shorter still than these two.
