It has been 150 years for a Harvard scientist to solve a mathematical chess problem. This is the challenge of the n-queens or the eight queens, which has worried specialists since its original approach, in 1848, by the German chess player Max Bezzel.
The problem is to place eight queens on the chessboard without threatening each other. Given that the queens are the most powerful figure on the board and can threaten any piece on the same rank, file or diagonal, the problem asks how many arrangements are possible so that the queens are far enough apart so that they do not attack each other. This article was published in the RT agency.
Although the original problem was solved a couple of years after it was raised, a broader version emerged in 1869, which remained unanswered until August of last year, when Michael Simkin, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Center for Mathematical Sciences and Applications, provided an almost definitive answer.
