A set $A$ of squares is given on a chessboard which is infinite in all directions. On each square of this chessboard which does not belong to $A$ there is a king. On a command all kings may be moved in such a way that each king either remains on its square or is moved to an adjacent square, which may have been occupied by another king before the command. Each square may be occupied by at most one king. Does there exist such a number $k$ and such a way of moving the kings that after $k$ moves the kings will occupy all squares of the chessboard? Consider the following cases: (a) $A$ is the set of all squares, both of whose coordinates are multiples of $100$. (There is a horizontal line numbered by the integers from $-\infty$ to $+\infty$, and a similar vertical line. Each square of the chessboard may be denoted by two numbers, its coordinates with respect to these axes.) (b) $A$ is the set of all squares which are covered by $100$ fixed arbitrary queens (i.e. each square covered by at least one queen). Remark: If $A$ consists of just one square, then $k = 1$ and the required way is the following: all kings to the left of the square of $A$ make one move to the right.

We put a figure of a king on some $6 \times 6$ chessboard. It can in one thrust jump either vertically or horizontally. The length of this jump is alternately one and two squares, whereby a jump of one (i.e. to the adjacent square) of the piece begins. Decide whether you can choose the starting position of the pieces so that after a suitable sequence $35$ jumps visited each box of the chessboard just once.

Sixteen points are placed in the centers of a $4 \times 4$ chess table in the following way: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (a) Prove that one may choose $6$ points such that no isoceles triangle can be drawn with the vertices at these points. (b) Prove that one cannot choose $7$ points with the above property.

The numbers from $1$ to $64$ must be written on the small squares of a chessboard, with a different number in each small square. Consider the $112$ numbers you can make by adding the numbers in two small squares which have a common edge. Is it possible to write the numbers in the squares so that these $112$ sums are all different?

Two players play a game on an $8$ by $8$ chessboard according to the following rules. The first player places a knight on the board. Then each player in turn moves the knight , but cannot place it on a square where it has been before. The player who has no move loses. Who wins in an errorless game , the first player or the second one? (The knight moves are the normal ones. ) (V . Zudilin , year 12 student , Beltsy (Moldova))

Let $m$ and $n$ be positive integers. Some squares of an $m \times n$ board are coloured red. A sequence $a_1, a_2, \ldots , a_{2r}$ of $2r \ge 4$ pairwise distinct red squares is called a [i]bishop circuit[/i] if for every $k \in \{1, \ldots , 2r \}$, the squares $a_k$ and $a_{k+1}$ lie on a diagonal, but the squares $a_k$ and $a_{k+2}$ do not lie on a diagonal (here $a_{2r+1}=a_1$ and $a_{2r+2}=a_2$). In terms of $m$ and $n$, determine the maximum possible number of red squares on an $m \times n$ board without a bishop circuit. ([i]Remark.[/i] Two squares lie on a diagonal if the line passing through their centres intersects the sides of the board at an angle of $45^\circ$.)

Given natural number n. Suppose that $N$ is the maximum number of elephants that can be placed on a chessboard measuring $2 \times n$ so that no two elephants are mutually under attack. Determine the number of ways to put $N$ elephants on a chessboard sized $2 \times n$ so that no two elephants attack each other. Alternative Formulation: Determine the number of ways to put $2015$ elephants on a chessboard measuring $2 \times 2015$ so there are no two elephants attacking each othe PS. Elephant = Bishop

The squares of a $10 \times 10$ chessboard are labelled with $1,2,...,100 $ in the usual way: the $i$-th row contains the numbers $10i -9,10i - 8,...,10i$ in increasing order. The signs of fifty numbers are changed so that each row and each column contains exactly five negative numbers. Show that after this change the sum of all numbers on the chessboard is zero.

A [i]lazy[/i] rook can only move from a square to a vertical or a horizontal neighbour. It follows a path which visits each square of an $8 \times 8$ chessboard exactly once. Prove that the number of such paths starting at a corner square is greater than the number of such paths starting at a diagonal neighbour of a corner square. [i](7 points)[/i]

An $8\times 8$ chessboard is made of unit squares. We put a rectangular piece of paper with sides of length 1 and 2. We say that the paper and a single square overlap if they share an inner point. Determine the maximum number of black squares that can overlap the paper.

In the bottom-left corner of a chessboard (with 8 rows and 8 columns), there is a king. Marius and Alexandru play a game, with Alexandru going first. On their turn, each player moves the king either one square to the right, one square up, or one square diagonally up-right. The player who moves the king to the top-right corner square wins. Who will win if both players play optimally?

Consider a $2n\times 2n$ chessboard with all the $4n^2$ cells being white to start with. The following operation is allowed to be performed any number of times: "Three consecutive cells (in a row or column) are recolored (a white cell is colored black and a black cell is colored white)." Find all possible values of $n\ge 2$ for which using the above operation one can obtain the normal chess coloring of the given board.

On an $8 \times 8$ chessboard, a rook stands on the bottom left corner square. We want to move it to the upper right corner, subject to the following rules: we have to move the rook exactly $9$ times, such that the length of each move is either $3$ or $4$. (It is allowed to mix the two lengths throughout the "journey".) How many ways are there to do this? In each move, the rook moves horizontally or vertically.

Given a chess-board $99\times 99$ with a set $F$ of fields marked on it (the set is different in three tasks). There is a beetle sitting on every field of the set $F$. Suddenly all the beetles have raised into the air and flied to another fields of the same set. The beetles from the neighbouring fields have landed either on the same field or on the neighbouring ones (may be far from their starting point). (We consider the fields to be neighbouring if they have at least one common vertex.) Consider a statement: [i]"There is a beetle, that either stayed on the same field or moved to the neighbouring one".[/i] Is it always valid if the figure $F$ is: a) A central cross, i.e. the union of the $50$-th row and the $50$-th column? b) A window frame, i.e. the union of the $1$-st, $50$-th and $99$-th rows and the $1$-st, $50$-th and $99$-th columns? c) All the chess-board?

Eight pawns are placed on a chessboard, so that there is one in each row and column. Show that an even number of the pawns are on black squares.

For an integer $m\geq 1$, we consider partitions of a $2^m\times 2^m$ chessboard into rectangles consisting of cells of chessboard, in which each of the $2^m$ cells along one diagonal forms a separate rectangle of side length $1$. Determine the smallest possible sum of rectangle perimeters in such a partition. [i]Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger, Netherlands[/i]

Find the relation of the black part length and the white part length for the main diagonal of the a) $100\times 99$ chess-board; b) $101\times 99$ chess-board.

Let $n$ be a positive integer. There is a pawn in one of the cells of an $n\times n$ table. The pawn moves from an arbitrary cell of the $k$th column, $k \in \{1,2, \cdots, n \}$, to an arbitrary cell in the $k$th row. Prove that there exists a sequence of $n^{2}$ moves such that the pawn goes through every cell of the table and finishes in the starting cell.

2500 chess kings have to be placed on a $100 \times 100$ chessboard so that [b](i)[/b] no king can capture any other one (i.e. no two kings are placed in two squares sharing a common vertex); [b](ii)[/b] each row and each column contains exactly 25 kings. Find the number of such arrangements. (Two arrangements differing by rotation or symmetry are supposed to be different.) [i]Proposed by Sergei Berlov, Russia[/i]

The $14 \times 14$ chessboard squares are colored in pattern, as shown in the picture. Can you choose seven fields blacks and seven white squares of this chessboard in such a way, that there is exactly one selected field in each row and column? Justify your answer. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/e/4/e8ba46030cd0f0e0511f1f9e723e5bd29e9975.png[/img]

For an integer $m\geq 1$, we consider partitions of a $2^m\times 2^m$ chessboard into rectangles consisting of cells of chessboard, in which each of the $2^m$ cells along one diagonal forms a separate rectangle of side length $1$. Determine the smallest possible sum of rectangle perimeters in such a partition. [i]Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger, Netherlands[/i]

Eight rooks are placed on a $8\times 8$ chessboard, so that no two rooks attack one another. All squares of the board are divided between the rooks as follows. A square where a rook is placed belongs to it. If a square is attacked by two rooks then it belongs to the nearest rook; in case these two rooks are equidistant from this square each of them possesses a half of the square. Prove that every rook possesses the equal area.

A "labyrinth" is an $8 \times 8$ chessboard with walls between some neighboring squares. If a rook can traverse the entire board without jumping over the walls, the labyrinth is "good" ; otherwise it is "bad" . Are there more good labyrinths or bad labyrinths? (A Shapovalov)

Place eight rooks on a standard $8 \times 8$ chessboard so that no two are in the same row or column. With the standard rules of chess, this means that no two rooks are attacking each other. Now paint $27$ of the remaining squares (not currently occupied by rooks) red. Prove that no matter how the rooks are arranged and which set of $27$ squares are painted, it is always possible to move some or all of the rooks so that: • All the rooks are still on unpainted squares. • The rooks are still not attacking each other (no two are in the same row or same column). • At least one formerly empty square now has a rook on it; that is, the rooks are not on the same $8$ squares as before.

On a $300 \times 300$ board, several rooks are placed that beat the entire board. Within this case, each rook beats no more than one other rook. At what least $k$, it is possible to state that there is at least one rook in each $k\times k$ square ?