The 65th square

ByDrDave

The secret of Grandmaster play is to make use of the hidden 65th square on the chess board. I’m sure you’ve all had the experience of having a piece come at you, apparently out of nowhere, to take one of your army. That piece came from the 65th square.

I can’t show you the square, because it’s not on the usual 8×8 grid system, but I can show you that it is there. Watch…

Take a 8×8 chessboard (64 squares, right?), and divide it up in a special way:

These can be rearranged to make a rectangle. 

But of course, the 5×13 rectangle has 65 squares. I’m not sure which one is the extra square… but now you know it’s there, you can maybe use it in your games!

(Post inspired by Ivor Annetts, but puzzle devised by Sam Loyd, I believe.)

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