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- Knight's Tour version 2.1 - Instructions
- This program is in the public domain.
-
- Overview
-
- The Knight's Tour is a simple game of skill. The object of the game is to
- move a knight (one of the playing pieces in a chess game) on a chessboard
- such that every square on the board is covered once and only once. It's not
- as easy as it might sound. There are multiple solutions to the Knight's
- Tour; however, after trying and failing to cover every square a few times,
- you may have a hard time believing it! Once you succeed in covering the
- board completely (and assuming you didn't just get lucky), repeating the
- Knight's Tour is somewhat easier than it was the first time.
-
- The movement of a knight on a chessboard is somewhat unusual. A knight may
- move two squares in one direction (horizontally or vertically) and one
- square in a perpendicular direction, for each move. The knight thus moves
- in a kind of L-shaped figure. For example, it may move two squares to the
- right horizontally, and one square down, or one square to the left and two
- squares up, etc. If you are not sure how the knight moves, select "Show
- valid moves" from the Display menu of the game, and all valid moves at any
- given point in the game will be marked by a green marker (in the case of the
- first move, all the squares on the board are valid moves, since you can
- start on any square you wish).
-
- Playing the Game
-
- The cursor becomes a knight whenever it is on the chessboard. You move by
- moving the cursor to the square to which you wish to move your knight, and
- clicking the mouse on that square. At the beginning of the game, you can
- put your knight anywhere you wish on the board; thereafter, each additional
- move must be legal for a knight (one horizontally and two vertically, or
- vice versa). The program will not let you cheat.
-
- Squares you have not yet covered are gray or black, and they are marked by
- a green marker if you can move to them and you have turned on the Display
- valid moves option. Squares you have already covered are light or dark
- red, and they are numbered in the order you covered them if you have
- turned on the Number moves option.
-
- You can take back moves by pressing the right mouse button. You can back up
- as far as you want--to the beginning of the game, if you wish.
-
- If you get stuck with no valid moves remaining, and you haven't covered
- every square on the board, the program will tell you so, and give you the
- opportunity to start a new game or continue (select "Continue" if you want
- to take back moves and keep trying).
-
- Menus
-
- Game menu
-
- -- New game Starts a new game and clears the board
-
- -- Cancel move Cancels your most recent move and restores the square
- to which you last moved. This option is disabled if
- you haven't yet moved at the start of a game.
-
- Display menu
-
- -- Number moves Marks each move you have made with a number in
- ascending sequence. If you win, these numbers allow
- you to figure out how you won! Initially this option
- is turned off.
-
- -- Show valid moves Marks all the valid moves with a green marker. If
- you are just starting the game, all the squares are
- marked (because you can start the Tour anywhere you
- want on the board). This option is initially turned
- off.
-
- ? menu
-
- -- About Knight's Tour... Prints the current version of Knight's Tour.
-
- Required Configuration
-
- This program requires at least a PC with a 386 microprocessor or better,
- Windows 3.1 or better, and a VGA. It might work on more modest configura-
- tions, but it's never been tested on anything smaller.
-
- Miscellaneous
-
- The game is certainly nothing like chess, but it's harder than it looks.
- How long it holds your interest probably depends on how long it takes you
- to consistently win the game!
-