N-queens Problem

N-QUEENS PROBLEM

The problem is to place it queens on an n-by-n chessboard so that no two queens attack each other by being in the same row or in the same column or on the same diagonal. For n = 1, the problem has a trivial solution, and it is easy to see that there is no solution for n = 2 and n =3. So let us consider the four-queens problem and solve it by the backtracking technique. Since each of the four queens has to be placed in its own row, all we need to do is to assign a column for each queen on the board presented in the following figure.

Steps to be followed

We start with the empty board and then place queen 1 in the first possible position of its row, which is in column 1 of row 1.

Then we place queen 2, after trying unsuccessfully columns 1 and 2, in the first acceptable position for it, which is square (2,3), the square in row 2 and column 3. This proves to be a dead end because there i no acceptable position for queen 3. So, the algorithm backtracks and puts queen 2 in the next possible position at (2,4).

Then queen 3 is placed at (3,2), which proves to be another dead end.

The algorithm then backtracks all the way to queen 1 and moves it to (1,2). Queen 2 then goes to (2,4), queen 3 to (3,1), and queen 4 to (4,3), which is a solution to the problem.

(x denotes an unsuccessful attempt to place a queen in the indicated column. The numbers above the nodes indicate the order in which the nodes are generated)

If other solutions need to be found, the algorithm can simply resume its operations at the leaf at which it stopped. Alternatively, we can use the board‘s symmetry for this purpose.