Welcome to the staging ground for new communities! Each proposal has a description in the "Descriptions" category and a body of questions and answers in "Incubator Q&A". You can ask questions (and get answers, we hope!) right away, and start new proposals.

Are you here to participate in a specific proposal? Click on the proposal tag (with the dark outline) to see only posts about that proposal and not all of the others that are in progress. Tags are at the bottom of each post.

Post History

57%

+2 −1

Incubator Q&A Mutilated chessboard problem

This post describes a classic puzzle. If you have previously seen this puzzle I request that you allow someone else to solve it and post their answer. Thank you! Mutilated chessboard problem: ...

1 answer · posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭ · edited 6d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles tiling

#2: Post edited by

will.octagon.gibson‭ · 2026-09-12T03:53:21Z (6 days ago)
Added tiling tag

Copy Link

Raw

Markdown

puzzles

puzzles tiling

#1: Initial revision by

will.octagon.gibson‭ · 2026-04-24T20:42:44Z (5 months ago)

Copy Link

Raw

Markdown

Mutilated chessboard problem

This post describes a classic puzzle.

**If you have previously seen this puzzle I request that you allow someone else to solve it and post their answer.**  

Thank you!

---

## Mutilated chessboard problem:

2 corner squares of a chessboard have been cut out as shown below.  

You have 31 dominoes each of which can exactly cover two adjacent squares in the chessboard.  

Can you completely cover every square of the mutilated chessboard with the 31 dominoes?

![chessboard with two corner squares missing, the top left corner and the bottom right corner.](https://proposals.codidact.com/uploads/bvcsowafeupwgonpu8oy6oolfw1g)

---

Attribution:

Max Black in his book Critical Thinking (1946)

puzzles

Communities

Post History