2026-10-03 · history
Eight Queens (1848) — Eight Pieces, None Attacking: The Board Gauss Also Counted
In 1848 the chess problemist Max Bezzel asked for eight queens on an 8x8 board with none attacking another. Nauck gave 92 solutions in 1850 and Gauss worked on it in letters. In 1971 Dijkstra used it to teach backtracking. This article traces the one-line problem's history as far as sources could be confirmed.
