Mathematica Can a King Outside a Square Stop a Pawn from Promotion on a Chessboard?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on a chess problem involving a pawn and an opposing king on a 64-square chessboard. It asserts that if the king is positioned outside a square formed by the diagonals drawn from the pawn to the last rank, the king cannot prevent the pawn from promoting. This concept has historical backing, with references to a book by chess legend Capablanca. Additionally, there is mention of an upcoming contest focused on solving the "N queens" problem for N greater than 23, highlighting the challenge of counting non-threatening placements of N queens on a chessboard, with the current record set at N=23. Participants are encouraged to engage in this global competition, which emphasizes the complexity of chess-related problems.
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There is a 64 square chessboard. A pawn is at some position on the checkboard. There are only two players on the checkboard: the pawn and king of opposing team. Imagine diagonals drawn from the pawn to the last rank on the chess board. Imagine a square formed by the ends of the diagonals. Prove that if King is outside the square, it can never stop the pawn from promotion (reaching the last rank).
 
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N-queens contest next week.

Hi,
I think the proof has been provided since ages.
I have a book of Capablanca (first part of XX century) that explains that.

By the way, there is a contest next week for finding the solution to the "N queens" problem with N > 23 .
Look at:
http://www.etsi.org/plugtests/Upcoming/GRID/GRIDcontest.htm

" ...for the largest chessboard of dimension N, count the number of solutions for placing non-threatening N queens. The world record is for N=23, having 24,233,937,684,440 solutions. Winners are expected in the range of 24 to 27."

Pure Java. Grid over the world.

Tony
 
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