How to play Knight's Tour
Move the knight in its L-shaped jump to reach the targets — or visit every square of the board exactly once. Also known as Knight move puzzle.
The rules
- The knight moves two squares in one direction (up, down, left or right) and then one square at a right angle — an L-shape. It jumps over anything in between.
- It must stay on the board and cannot land on a blocked square.
- Goals: collect every star (any order or in number order), do it within a move limit or in the fewest moves, come back to the start, or visit every open square once (a tour). A closed tour ends back on the start square.
- In star goals you may land on a square more than once; in tours you may not.
Playing Knight's Tour on Puzzle Solvers
- Choose a goal — collect the stars, in number order, in the fewest moves, collect and return home, or visit every square — a board and a level.
- Tap a glowing square to move the knight there. The knight jumps in an L and can fly over anything.
- Stars are collected when the knight lands on them. Dark squares are blocked. Undo steps back a move.
- Hint shows the next move on a shortest route, or a move from which the tour can still be finished.
Using the Knight's Tour solver
- Choose the goal and board, then click to place the start, stars and blocked squares (or press Sample).
- Press Solve for the shortest route through the stars — or, for tours, a route that visits every square — and step through it.
A worked example
On a 5×5 board the knight starts in a corner, with a star in the opposite corner. A corner has only two moves, so the first jump is forced either way.
From the centre-ish square it lands on, it can reach the far side in two more jumps — four moves in all — which is the shortest route.
Strategies
- Count the jumps. Two squares that touch diagonally are two knight moves apart; squares next to each other are three.
- Warnsdorff's rule. For a tour, move to the square with the fewest onward moves. Corners and edges first — leave the middle for later.
- Colours alternate. Every knight move changes square colour, so after an odd number of moves you are always on the other colour.
- Plan the order. With several stars, the order you collect them in matters more than any single move.
Common mistakes
- Counting the squares the knight passes over — it only lands on the end of its L.
- Heading for the nearest star first when a different order would be shorter overall.
Where it comes from
Knight's tours were studied by the mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1759, and much earlier by Indian and Arabic chess writers. Warnsdorff's simple rule for finding tours dates from 1823.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to know chess?
No. The board shows every square the knight can reach from where it is.
Is there a tour on every board?
No — there is none on 4×4, and a closed tour needs an even number of squares, so the board choices change with the goal.
What are Movement Patterns?
The same idea with invented pieces — a frog, a robot, a rocket — each with its own move. Try Movement Patterns.
Keep going
- Play Knight's Toura fresh puzzle every time
- Knight's Tour Solverstep by step, every move explained
- Movement PatternsLearn how a new piece moves, then plan a route that collects every gem.
- Peg SolitaireJump pegs over each other to remove them; finish with one peg — ideally in…
- Number PathDraw one path from 1 that passes through every square once, reaching the…
All guides: How to play every puzzle and game.