If you have a few chess sets at home, try the following exercise: Arrange eight queens on a board so that none of them are attacking each other. If you succeed once, can you find a second arrangement?

The n-queens problem is about finding how many different ways queens can be placed on a chessboard so that none attack each other. A mathematician has now all but solved it. If you have a few chess ...

The problem first appeared in 1869. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. A chess problem that has stumped mathematicians for more than ...