Getting a Scout out of Desert

A Problem in Checker-Jumping II

Getting a Scout out of Desert

Reversing the moves in a checker jumping problem was an approach preferred by Leibniz to solving the game of solitaire. The applet below follows the same idea for the puzzle of Sending Scouts into the Desert. (I am grateful to an anonymous visitor for suggesting that, for this puzzle, the move reversal may also help solve the problem.)

The task here is to get a scout (or scouts) out of the desert and into an inhabitable area. As in the original puzzle, the two areas are separated by a horizontal line, with the desert being the top one. To move a scout (a red chip), click on it and then click on the intended new location. This is only possible if the new location is empty (blank), is 2 units away from the scout either horizontally or vertically, and if the intermediate location is empty. As the result of these actions, the scout will move to the new location and another will pop up (by magic, no doubt) at the location jumped over.

The goal now is to leave the desert void of the scouts.

This applet requires Sun's Java VM 2 which your browser may perceive as a popup. Which it is not. If you want to see the applet work, visit Sun's website at https://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp, download and install Java VM and enjoy the applet.

What if applet does not run?

Fibonacci Numbers

Golden Ratio in Geometry

72200714