Knight’s Tour: Number Every Square from 1 to 100

Online knight’s tour puzzle: move a chess knight across the whole board without landing on any square twice, numbering the squares from 1 to 100 as you go. Boards are 5×5, 6×6, 8×8 and 10×10 — the classic chessboard tour and the school-notebook version alike. Hints are off by default — you spot the legal moves yourself — but one switch brings back the dots on every legal square and the warning about the ones that make the tour impossible. The tool can also finish the route for you.

How to play

1
Pick a board

5×5 and 6×6 to warm up, 8×8 for the classic chess problem, 10×10 for the notebook version numbered 1 to 100.

2
Place number 1

Click any square — it gets the number 1. From there you find the moves yourself: highlighting is off by default.

3
Move in an L shape

Each next number goes two squares in one direction and one square perpendicular to it. No square may be used twice.

4
Turn hints on if you want them

The Hints switch has three steps: Off (the default), Moves — a dot on every legal square, and Moves + dead ends — plus a cross on the moves after which the board can no longer be finished. Undo takes back the last number; Show solution completes the route.

Visit every square with the knight — with dead-end warnings

0/64Squares
—Best run
0:00Time
—Best time

Hints

All games

Features

Dead-end warning before you commit to a move
Every legal move is checked by exhaustive search: a green tick means a full tour still exists after it, a red cross means no solution remains. A blue dot means no verdict was reached within the time allowed.
Four boards: 5×5, 6×6, 8×8 and 10×10
8×8 is the classic chessboard tour, 10×10 is the school grid numbered up to 100. On 5×5 a tour does not exist from every square, and those starts are marked in advance.
Solver that continues from your position
Warnsdorff’s rule with backtracking completes the route from the number you stopped at and replays it step by step — you can stop the playback at any moment.
Path line and undo
The route so far is drawn as a line over the board, any number can be taken back with Undo, and an unfinished board plus its timer are kept between visits.
Printable blank grid
The print button puts an empty grid of the chosen size on paper — the same game you would draw in a squared notebook.
Closed tours are flagged separately
If the last number is a knight move away from the first, the tour is closed — the most prized kind of solution.

Frequently asked questions

What is the knight’s tour?

A classic problem: move a chess knight so that it visits every square of the board exactly once. Leonhard Euler analysed it back in 1759. The school version uses a 10×10 grid filled with the numbers 1 to 100.

Does a solution exist from every square?

On 6×6, 8×8 and 10×10 a tour exists from any starting square. On 5×5 only 13 squares work — the ones sharing the corner colour. On the “Moves + dead ends” hint step, unusable starts are marked before your first move.

What do the tick, the cross and the dot mean?

A tick means the move was verified by search and a complete tour still exists afterwards. A cross means it is proven that no solution remains. The marks appear only on the “Moves + dead ends” step of the Hints switch. A blue dot means the check did not finish in the time allowed: no verdict, the move is simply legal.

How is a closed tour different from an open one?

In a closed tour the last number sits a knight move away from the first, so the knight could return to the start and loop forever. Closed tours exist on 8×8 and 10×10, but not on 5×5.

Is there a rule that stops you getting stuck?

Yes — Warnsdorff’s rule: always move to the square that has the fewest onward moves. The Hint button picks exactly that move, and Show solution builds the rest of the route with it.

Why are the legal moves not highlighted?

By design: hints are off by default, because seeing where the knight can go is the puzzle. Under the board there is a Hints switch — “Moves” brings the dots back on every legal square, “Moves + dead ends” adds a cross on the ones that ruin the tour. Your choice is remembered. Click a square the knight cannot reach and it shakes, with a reminder of the move rule under the board.

Is progress saved?

Yes. An unfinished board, the timer and the chosen size are stored in your browser, so you can close the page and come back to the same position.

I am stuck halfway — what now?

At a dead end a “Back to number N” button appears under the board: it rewinds not by one move but straight to the last square where you still had a choice. Take a different branch from there. To stop hitting dead ends at all, set Hints to “Moves + dead ends” — the fatal moves are then ruled out before you play them. Undo and Redo walk the route one number at a time.

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