Learn

Play your first board

Three numbers are missing from this 5×5 tour. The coach walks you through each one.

Keyboard: arrow keys move, Enter selects.

Step 1 of 3

Find 5. 4 and 6 are highlighted. The square for 5 must be one knight's move from both — select it.

A knight visits every square of the board once. Its path is numbered 1, 2, 3 … up to the number of squares.

Consecutive numbers are always one knight's move apart: two squares in one direction, one to the side.

Some numbers are printed. In Beverley–Funk boards each row and column also shows its sum. Fill in the rest — there is exactly one way.

One. Pick the line — row or column — with the fewest empty cells. Short lines carry the most information.
Two. Subtract the numbers already placed in that line from its printed sum. What remains must be shared by the empty cells, which bounds each of them.
Three. Combine that bound with where the knight can go: a candidate only fits if its neighbours in the tour can reach it. Usually one square is forced, and the next line opens up.

1848 — William Beverley publishes a knight's tour whose rows and columns all add up to 260 — the first magic tour.
2026 — Philippe Funk turns sums into clues: certified boards where the sums let you rebuild the hidden tour.