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1424
1425

A knight can travel across every square on a chess board without overlapping (x-post from r/woahdude) (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by Pixlr

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[–]breaking_jackpots 159 points160 points ago

So that is how London got their logo for the Olympics.

[–]Tashre -1 points0 points ago

I'm pretty sure plinko was involved at some point as well.

[–]definitelynotdaniel 68 points69 points ago

So can a Rook, but you don't see it making a big huff about it. No one gives a damn about the lonely rook. Not even the queen.

[–]runsoutofspace 11 points12 points ago

Nikki Heat cares about Rook...

[–]gaedikus 4 points5 points ago

can ya smell what the ROOK is cooking?!

[–]cuteintern 3 points4 points ago

Or the King!

[–]wakipaki 1 point2 points ago

Pepperidge farm cares.

[–]DingLedork 247 points248 points ago

(begin cocksucker mode)

Pedant Alert!

The knight's path overlaps many times in this GIF.

What you meant to say was, "A knight can travel across every square on a chess-board (provided he starts in the King's spot) without landing on the same square twice."

(end cocksucker mode)

[–]timlmul 102 points103 points ago

ehm he doesn't need to start in the king's spot as there are closed knight's tours which can be started from any tile.

since we're being pedantic.

[–]turtlejay 20 points21 points ago

And some guy linked to the wikipedia page of the knights tour (the one that image is from) and it seems there are several Quadrillion of these. I guess that kills the magic of this gif...

[–]timlmul 17 points18 points ago

let's keep up with appearances here in the pedantic thread and allow me to point out there are 13,267,364,410,532 (that is, thirteen trillion some odd) of these.

[–]MissL 6 points7 points ago

is that more or less than several quadrillion?

[–]gredders 8 points9 points ago

That number is about 13 trillion. A quadrillion is 1000 trillion.

[–]MissL 0 points1 point ago

cool

[–]beefpolice 15 points16 points ago

Thats like saying you're more or less several thousand meters tall.

[–]MissL 10 points11 points ago

you haven't answered my question

[–]beefpolice 10 points11 points ago

Sorry.

13 trillion = 0.013 quadrillion or about a hundred times smaller than a quadrillion.

[–]MissL 0 points1 point ago

TIL. thanks

[–]CrispierDuck 3 points4 points ago

A quadrillion would be 987 trillion more.

[–]Geronimo2011 0 points1 point ago

Amazing how you call 267 billion, 264 million (and some odd) some odd.

[–]timlmul 1 point2 points ago

what's a few hundred billion between friends

[–]pat5168 0 points1 point ago

You mean that 13,267,364,410,532 is some odd 13 billion, right?

[–]Quaytsar 3 points4 points ago

It's in the trillions on the everyone-but-the-british scale. Milliard isn't a number no matter how hard you try to convince us it is.

Thirteen trillion two-hundred sixty-seven billion three-hundred sixty-four million four-hundred ten thousand five-hundred thirty-two.

[–]pat5168 0 points1 point ago

But...the British use the short scale.

[–]Quaytsar 0 points1 point ago

The British use the long scale: thousand, million, milliard, billion, billiard, trillion...

AFAIK, everyone else uses the short scale: thousand, million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, quintillion...

[–]pat5168 0 points1 point ago

You're wrong, this map details which countries use the long scale (Blue), short scale (Pink), both (Purple), and other scales (Yellow). The British have officially used the short scale and have been for the last 28 years.

[–]DingLedork 68 points69 points ago

Fuck! I've been out-pedoed.

I mean, out-pedanted.

Erm...

Well done.

[–]elsjaako 10 points11 points ago

For some more pedantry, I don't think you could say a knights path overlaps, because a knights path is not well defined.

According to FIDE chess rules:

The knight may move to one of the squares nearest to that on which it stands but not on the same rank, file or diagonal.

There is no universally defined path between where the knight starts and ends, it just sort of teleports there.

You could define the path between where a knight starts and ends in many ways. I could for instance say that a knights path first goes up, then moves to above the correct square, and then moves down, and that the distance it moves up is different for every square. In this case it is impossible to cross paths without landing on the same square.

(I am also a pedantic cocksucker. We should start a club)

[–]AlexthePwner -1 points0 points ago

r/circlesuck?

[–]elsjaako 0 points1 point ago

this subreddit has been banned

[–]ShawnTay 10 points11 points ago

wish my girlfriend had a cocksucker mode

[–]NyanShark 0 points1 point ago

but... it lands on the same square many-a times!!

EDIT: never mind, i just wasn't watching close enough to catch it the moment before it landed. :/

[–]yourdadsbff 2 points3 points ago

You say "cocksucker mode" like it's a bad thing! ;p

[–]deja-vu-comment 105 points106 points ago

The only problem is, that is not where a knight starts.

.

[–]pseudolobster 49 points50 points ago

Should have reposted today's top comment, it's much more informative.

The Knight's Tour

[–]JamesAQuintero 11 points12 points ago

I had to program a simulation of this with Java. It was pretty fun.

[–]Geronimo2011 2 points3 points ago

So far, my favourite solution for the Knights tour by far is that from the sanskrit poem from the 9th century.

The earliest known reference to the Knight's Tour problem dates back to the 9th century AD. In Rudraṭa's Kavyalankara[3] (5.15), a Sanskrit work on Poetics, the pattern of a knight's tour on a half-board has been presented as an elaborate poetic figure ("citra-alaṅkāra") called the "turagapadabandha" or 'arrangement in the steps of a horse.' The same verse in four lines of eight syllables each can be read from left to right or by following the path of the knight on tour. Since the Indic writing systems used for Sanskrit are syllabic, each syllable can be thought of as representing a square on a chess board. Rudraṭa's example is as follows:

से ना ली ली ली ना ना ना ली

ली ना ना ना ना ली ली ली ली

न ली ना ली ली ले ना ली ना

ली ली ली ना ना ना ना ना ली

se nā lī lī lī nā nā lī

lī nā nā nā nā lī lī lī

na lī nā lī le nā lī nā

lī lī lī nā nā nā nā lī

[–]LuigiFebrozzi 0 points1 point ago

Ok, that still is not where a knight starts....

[–]sir-manatee 9 points10 points ago

that was oddly satisfactory to watch.

[–]youknowit19 6 points7 points ago

I was really hoping the gif ended and didn't restart so quickly. It looked so serene once it was completed.

[–]FeverishAmishTrooper 1 point2 points ago

http://imgur.com/Qz9gC

Here ya go dude! :)

[–]CicKiz 0 points1 point ago

looks like a monster.

[–]Ohelig 6 points7 points ago

Since we're on the topic of chess, I figure I'll bring up this fun activity. (Requires Windows 7)

1: Find an online chess site

2: Open the chess game that comes with Windows

3: Go against an AI on the hardest difficulty

4: Start a game on the online chess site

5: Copy your opponent's move into the chess game that comes with Windows.

6: Copy how the AI responds into the online chess game.

7: Victory!

[–]neurodyne 4 points5 points ago

You magnificent bastard!

I'll definitely be giving this a try when I play my friend later, muhahaha!

[–]Average_Toaster 42 points43 points ago

This might be just a bit too interesting for /r/mildlyinteresting

[–]Greenleaf208 28 points29 points ago

9/10 posts on this subreddit have this comment.

[–]Helzibah 5 points6 points ago

I'd say that was mildly interesting, but I bet every post has this same thread of comments, heh.

[–]SilentLettersSuck 3 points4 points ago

This time is serious.

[–]johnsmcjohn 7 points8 points ago

/r/muchtoointeresting?

[–]timothyrds 5 points6 points ago

Damn. It's not real. You bastard.

[–]OddSubredditMaker 9 points10 points ago

Yes, it is.

[–]ieatcrayons 0 points1 point ago

Two years of dedication.

[–]poo-poo -3 points-2 points ago

This sub is a replacement for /r/wtf

WTF: A knight can touch every square on the chess board once!

[–]WizardlySquid 11 points12 points ago

Oh you must have watched the Sherlock Holmes QL.

[–]jinklmun 5 points6 points ago

I'm a decent chess player... okay i lie. I'm borderline ok, i've been trying to make better use out of my knight, but that fucker is hard to get in there. The computer is good with it though so i learn by example.

[–]Cuccoteaser 0 points1 point ago

I'm a sort of okay chess player as well (I love chess but no one wants to fucking play with me), wanna play online? I bet there're places to play online.

[–]bitterorca 0 points1 point ago

Download chess with friends and add me (bitterorca)

[–]Cuccoteaser 1 point2 points ago

Oh but that requires an iThing...

[–]poo-poo 1 point2 points ago

Yahoo chess, bros.

[–]jinklmun 0 points1 point ago

I've only ever played the computer. Sure I'm willing to play! Find the place!

[–]Cuccoteaser 1 point2 points ago

http://www.chess.com/

I think this site should work decently, I registered myself as Tattel! Go add! :D

[–]jinklmun 0 points1 point ago

I don't know how to add people... I'm jinklmun on there too.

[–]Cuccoteaser 1 point2 points ago

I think I managed to add you, check if you can se the friend request!

[–]Paljoey 3 points4 points ago

...So can the rook and queen, and king, and the two pawns on the ends.

[–]lazycyclist 2 points3 points ago

...The two pawns on the ends?

[–]ImperialFist 0 points1 point ago

This is also confusing to me, I think it would be predicated upon the idea that you'd reset upon reaching the distill side, as well as an ability to move diagonally by 1 as you can only do in attack.

[–]Sanity_in_Moderation 1 point2 points ago

Based on the conversion of a pawn into a queen after crossing the board.

[–]Sanity_in_Moderation 0 points1 point ago

Any pawn could do it, providing that they start from their traditional position rather than the back/front edge.

[–]darkshaddow42 0 points1 point ago

Those are much less exciting, though.

[–]tehaleks 3 points4 points ago

Dude, I hated this puzzle in Professor Layton. It took me forever.

[–]sheravi 2 points3 points ago

I see a creepy face at the end.

[–]animal_time 1 point2 points ago

You're having LSD flashbacks.

[–]sheravi 0 points1 point ago

I haven't done LSD, so am I having flashforwards?

[–]newskul 1 point2 points ago

bwaaaah

[–]johnlt77 2 points3 points ago

I made a video of this, plus my knight poops quarters...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZHSvRy0H5w&feature=plcp

[–]nanoprecise 1 point2 points ago

What a pretty pattern.

[–]ionoi 0 points1 point ago

This is way more than mildly interesting.

[–]SpaceJockey1979 0 points1 point ago

So can a queen, king and rook.

[–]xorkk7 2 points3 points ago

that is Spybot S&D easter egg

[–]baka4191 1 point2 points ago

I totally prepared myself for a screaming monster when the board was half way done.

[–]lhommealenvers 0 points1 point ago

I thought this was very well-known. It is indeed very interesting and not interesting at all at the same time (depends whether you know chess or not). I guess it makes it mildly interesting.

Also, there are many different solutions to this puzzle. And there are even cyclic solutions (where after the 64th square the knight can hop to the 1st), symmetric solutions, solutions where the knight covers one half of the chessboard before starting the other half, and so on.

[–]locutus90 0 points1 point ago

And now I know how to beat the game "Knight" which has been on my TI83+ since I got it. I will feel like a god once I find a reason to have it and this GIF out at the same time.

[–]snarfalarkus 0 points1 point ago

So can a pawn. Provided it "upgrades" into a rook or a queen.

[–]SuperStingray 0 points1 point ago

I remember having to program this as a recursive function for a CS class. Boy, was that a weekend.

[–]Reassurance_King 0 points1 point ago

It even traced out a picture of a knight. so amazing!

[–]DjKaiserCharles444 0 points1 point ago

Am I the only one who saw a fucked up Swastika in this?

[–]Neamow 0 points1 point ago

oh yeah, I remember how we had to program this; it's a perfect backtracking excercise

[–]fildon 0 points1 point ago

There are actually multiple ways to do this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight's_tour

[–]Panki27 0 points1 point ago

Why is it called a Knight if the figure is a horse?

[–]af_mmolina 1 point2 points ago

They were primarily the mounted forces in those times.

[–]funkless_eck 1 point2 points ago

What's more Georges Perec wrote a book based on it: Life: A User's Manual. The plot moves through the 11 rue Simon-Crubellier describing what is happening at the exact point that Bartlebooth dies, with everyone frozen in time, the path that the narrative moves through the building is the "knight's tour" (as in OP).

Be warned if you read it: Because everyone is frozen in time there is no dialogue, and Perec was obsessed with making lists of infinitesimal detail.

The book is, however, mildly interesting

[–]Epic_Spitfire 1 point2 points ago

I've done this like a hundred times in Professor Layton.

[–]CrossPurposes 0 points1 point ago

There was a famous chess player and teacher who used to do a demonstration where he would have members of the audience call out random words, then assign them to random squares on the chess board. Then he would look at the board for a few minutes, and say the words in the order that the knight would land on as it traveled the board.

I wish I could remember the man's name.

[–]bacon_cake 0 points1 point ago

I watched this while listening to Rihanna and the beat synced perfectly.

[–]denMAR 0 points1 point ago

Don't you hate when this happens?

[–]wateermlon 0 points1 point ago

I haven't played chess in over a year but that's not where the knight starts.

[–]kebukai 0 points1 point ago

In my school it was a game, the best I could do was 62, beating all the other kids. Yeah, I didn't have a life even since elementary school

Edit: correction, if I remember correctly we used 7x7 boards instead, so my record was actually 47 (always two squares unvisited)

Edit2: and by boards I mean the reticulated paper from the notebook

[–]Jojje22 0 points1 point ago

... and makes sort of a swastika in the process.

[–]illiterature 0 points1 point ago

Did any one else imagine little clicking noises with each move?

[–]exdirrk 0 points1 point ago

So can the queen, rook and king.

[–]Tryxster 0 points1 point ago

http://karmadecay.com/http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FGs7mH.gif

[–]lordlicorice -1 points0 points ago

This is one of the oldest and best-known puzzles in chess. I wouldn't call it mildly interesting.

[–]summdawg 0 points1 point ago

This synced up perfectly with the song I'm listening to.

[–]fiftyfifth -2 points-1 points ago

Once again, something worth downvoting until you realize it's properly categorized into mildly interesting.

[–]darkside17 -3 points-2 points ago

How many moves was that. I lost interest and stopped counting. I was going to divide by whatever and say "HL3 confirmed" or something trolly until I realized what sub I was in. Whatever. Repost, not the knight's starting point, not even mildly interesting. Good day sir.

[–]TeRRoR503 -2 points-1 points ago

Knight what are you doing? Knight?! Shtap!

[–]andrewz00 -2 points-1 points ago

Wow your bored....

[–]dennit 0 points1 point ago

His bored what?

[–]andrewz00 -1 points0 points ago

Board vs Bored.... not sure where you were going with that.

[–]nothingsong 2 points3 points ago

Woosh

[–]twonineteen 0 points1 point ago

not sure

Clearly

[–]seeBurtrun -3 points-2 points ago

and you are left with something that looks similar to a swastika.

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