POW#5TheKnightSwitches

ThefifthProblemoftheWeek,TheKnightSwitch,involvedaseriesofchallenges
increasingindifficulty.Inthefirststageoftheproblem,Iwasgivenathreebythreechess
boardinwhichfourknightswereplacedineachofthechessboardscorners(twowhiteknights
ononesideoftheboardandtwoblackknightsontheothersideoftheboard).Itwasmyjobto
getthewhiteknightstowheretheblackknightswereinitiallyplacedandviceversausingthe
rulesoftheknightpieceinchess.Inthegameofchessandinthisspecificactivity,notwo
piecescanbeonthesamesquareatonetimeandtheknightpiececanonlymoveinanLshape
(twoupordownandonetotherightorleftofoneupordownandtwototherightofleft).
Belowisanimperfectdepictionofthefirstchallengessetuptobeginwith.

Obviously,Ifirstattemptedtosolvethethreebythreechessboardpuzzlebecauseitwas
theeasieronetosolve.Butafterbeginningtoworkouttheproblem,Irealizedthatitwasnot
necessarilygoingtobeeasy.Itookmanytriestosolvetheproblemusingtheexacttypesof
movesshownbelow.However,noneofthemwouldprovetobesuccessful.(Blackpieceson
blackspaceshaveawhiteoutlineandwhitepiecesonwhitespaceshaveablackoutline).

Theissuewithmovingpiecessidetosideacrosstheboardasshownaboveisthatnow
theblackknightinthebottomrightcorneroftheboardcannotperformthissamemovement
giventhattwopiecescannotoccupythesamespaceinchess.Thesamegoesforthewhitepiece
intheupperlefthandcorneroftheboard,whocannotmove(fromitsperspective)twoplacesto
theleftandonespaceup.Iftheblackknightinthebottomrighthandcornerwastheonlyoneon
thethreebythreeboard,itwouldonlytaketwomovestogettoacornerontheoppositesideof
theboard(twomovestotheleftandoneupfollowedbytwomovestotherightandoneup).

Forthisreason,Idecidedtomovethepiecesinazigzagformation.Atthetime,I
thoughtthatthiswasnotonlythemostefficientwaytodothings,buttheonlywaytodothings.
Bymovinganygivenpieceintoanyoneofthecentercollumnspacesontheboard,Iassumed
thatitwouldbeextremelydifficultifnotimpossibletocompletethegoalofgettingtheblack
knightsinthelowercornersoftheboardandthewhiteknightsintheuppercornersoftheboard.
ThisassumptionwasprovenfalsebymyfindingslateroninthePOWsolvingprocess.

Everythinguptothispointinmythinkingprocesshadbeendonealoneandusingpencil
andpaper,butinordertoreallycrackdownonthischesschallenge,Idecidedtoworkwitha
classmateofmine(Shendo).Hewasalreadyusingacomputerprogramtohelphimsolvethe
problem,asmarttechniquethatwouldallowhimtoworkquicklywithouthavingtoerasewhile
eliminatinghumanerroraswell.Althoughthemethoditselfwasuseful,ShendoandIwerenot
abletofindasolutionforthethreebythreechessboardproblem.Afterrunningthroughthe
problemafewmoretimesIthought,
Whatifinsteadofmovingtheknightpiecessidetoside
acrosstheboard,Imovedtheknightpiecesaroundtheperimeteroftheboardinonedirection.
Theknightpiecesarecapableofmovingtwospacesupandonespacetotheleftorrightmeaning
thattheycanpassaneighboringknightwithoutlandingonasquarethatisalreadyoccupied.I
figuredthatiftheymoveclockwisearoundtheboard,theblackknightscanbewherethewhite
knightsweretobeginwithandviceversa.

Keepingtrackofthepiecesclockwisemotionsaroundtheboardwasactuallyquite
difficult.WhilebeforeIwastakingnoteofeachstepwithpencilandpaperandwiththehelpa
computer,Iusedanactualchessboardandknightstohelpmekeeptrackofthemovementof
eachofthefourpieces.Thismadethingsalittlebiteasierbutatthetime,Ididntknowhow
manyrotationsoroverallmovementsitwouldtakefortheknightstoreachtheirappropriate
destinations.AttimesIwouldgetlostinthegeneralmovementofthepiecedwhenIshould
havebeenfocusedonwhereeachpiecestartedandwheretheyshouldfinish.Alloftheseissues
weresolvedbygettingtothesolutiononmultipleoccassions.

BelowarethestepsthatIusedtosuccessfullysolvethefirstpartoftheProblemofthe
Week(showninorderfromlefttorightandtoptobottom).

Iknowthatthisisthecorrectanswerbecausethisprocessrevealssixteenpreciseandlegal
movesinchessandinthiscase,becausethiswayofsolvingtheproblemisthemostefficient
way,itisalsothequickestway.

Whilethethreebythreechesspuzzlewassomewhatofachallengethethreebyfour
chessboardchallenge,MoreKnightsSwitching,provedtobemuchmoredifficult.Inthis
problem,theboardswidthwasthreeandincludedthreeoppositelycoloredknightsoneither
sideoftheboardlikeTheBigKnightSwitch.

ButunlikeTheBigKnightSwitch,theheightoftheboardwasfourspaceslongso
rotatingthepiecesaroundtheboardinaclockwisedirectionwasnotoutofthepicture.Belowis
apictureoftheboardsinitialsetup.


Honestly,itwasoverwhelmingtoevenbeginsolvingthisproblem.Iknewitwouldtake
awhileformetogetthesixpiecestoflipflopsidesbasedontheiroriginalpositionsandkeeping
thatinmind,itwassimplymygoalatthetimetotryandgettwowhiteknightsontheupperside
oftheboardandtwoblackknightsonthelowersideoftheboard.Afterseveralsemisuccesses
andfailedattempts,Iwasfinallyabletodothisbymovingeachpiecetwice.

Theissuewiththismoveisthatbytryingtogetthewhitepiecewheretheblackpieceis
andtheblackpiecewherethewhitepieceis,thetwopieceswilleventuallybeinvolvedinatrap.
Ifthelowerrightwhitepieceismovedtwospacestotheleftandonespaceupandtheupper

blackpieceismoved,fromitsperspective,twoplacestotheleftandoneup,(theonlymoves
thatwouldatleastattempttofinishthechallengeasawhole)thetwopiecescannolongermove
withthissamemotionmuchlessforwardbecausetheblackknightwantstobewherethewhite
knightisandviceversa.Notwopiecesinchessareabletomoveatthesametimeofbe
positionedonthesamespacewhichcompletelyderailsthelegalityofthismove.Whileinchess,
theknightswanttoeliminateoneanother,theyaretryingtoworkwitheachotherinthis
complexchallenge.

Intheend,thischallengewasaguessinggameformeuntilIfinallygotthecorrectstart
thatIneededinordertoknowhowtherestofthepiecesmovedandfinishtheactivity
comfortablyingeneral.Itriedsomanydifferentcombinationsanditistrulyunexplainableasto
howIgottherightone,theonethatIknewwasrighttobeginwith,thatIneededinordertoget
tothefinishline.ThisistheprocessItookinordertogettothemeatoftheproblem.

Insteadofgettingtwoofthesamecoloredknightsoneithersidewiththethetwoloneknights
diagonalfromoneanother,thetwoloneknightsarenowdirectlyacrossfromoneanotherand
willnotfallintothissametrap.Hereishowtherestofthepatterngoes.

InthefinalchallengeoftheProblemoftheWeek,youwereaskedhowmanytimesit
takestomovejustoneknightfromoneendofasquarechessboardtoitsdiagonalcounterparton
theboard.Todothis,Ihadtoworkwithdifferentlengths.Herearemyresults.

BoardSize(Square)

FewestNumberofMoves

2by2

3by3

4by4

5by5

6by6

7by7

8by8

Toclarify,thefinalanswerstothetwomainproblemsweresixteenandtwentytwo
respectively.Fromtheexperienceofgettingthroughthesetoughproblems,Ilearnedthathaving
abackupplanandstayingorganizedareextremelyimportant.Theyaresmallskills,butcome
veryusefulwhenyourmindfeelslikeitsabouttoexplodeorjustfreezeup.Thesegeneraltips
reallyhelpedmekeepmycoolandgetbacktothebasicsoftheproblemwhenIwasvery
stressedout.Onceyouhavelosttrackofyourideasandwork,itsalmostbettertostartover.

OnthisProblemoftheWeek,IbelievethatIdeserveatenoutoftenbecauseInever
gaveupwithsolvingtheproblem,experimentedwithdifferentwaysofgettingtheanswer,and
evenworkedasIwasovercomingafeverovertheweekend.Thiswriteuptrulyexemplifiesall
thehardworkthatIcompleted.Somedayswerejustspentplayingwiththechesspiecesand
boardinanattempttogettheansweranditsdayslikethesethatreallypaidoff.

InthisPOW,IthinkIexhibitedtheHabitsofaMathematician,
StayOrganized
and
LookForPatterns
.IwasabletousetheStayOrganizedbyalwayskeepingtrackofthe
movementofthepiecesandingeneral,maintainingorderwiththewayImovedmypieces(not
erratic).Inusingthistrait,IthinkIwasabletotreatthiscomplicatedproblemlikean
entertainingpuzzle.FinallyIwasabletoLookForPatterns.Bymovingpiecesandgetting
comfortablewithhowtheknightsrotatedaroundtheboard,Iwasgraduallyabletosee
recurrencesinthewaytheknightswerepositionedbeforeImadeanothermove.Thisskill
drasticallyimprovedasmymathexperiencewenton.

Anextensiontothisproblemcouldbestartingwithafourbyfourboardinsteadofa
threebythreeboard.Wouldthispuzzlebethesame,morechallenging,oreasier?Afollowup
tothisintrigingaddonwouldbetofindhowlongitwouldtakeeightknights(fouroneachside
oftheboard)toswitchsidesinaboardthatisthreespacesinlengthandfourspacesinitswidth.
Wouldthisextremechallengeevenbepossible?

Itwouldbebeyondinterestingtosee,forthesecondproblem,howmuchorlittlethe
originalproblemwouldchangebyadjustingtheorientationoftheboardandaddingaknighton
toeachsidetofillupthosefourthslots.Finally,whatwouldthisproblemlooklikewithfifty
knightsoneachsideofaboardthatisfiftyspacesinwidthandonehundredspacesinlength?
Whatwouldthisproblemlooklikewithonehundredknightsoneachsideofaboardthatisone
hundredspacesinwidthandonefiftyspacesinlength?Isthisevenpossible?Themathematical
possibilitiesandscenariosareabsolutelyendless.