Sudoku variant · rules and tips

Knight's Move Sudoku

No two identical digits may sit a chess knight's move apart. The knight moves in an L: two squares one way, then one square at a right angle. It is the most eccentric piece on the board, and it has brought its eccentricity with it.

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Professor Cryptic, the owl who teaches in the app
Professor Cryptic explains the rule

The Professor's tips

How do you solve Knight's Move Sudoku?

01 / Warm up

Start on a 4 by 4 grid

  • On a 4 by 4 grid a knight in the corner reaches only one square. Trace the L shapes out from your cell before placing anything.
  • Nothing on the grid marks this rule. You must carry it in your head, which is exactly where the best rules live. Notes will help.
  • Think of it as one more region belonging to each cell: its row, its column, its box, and every square a knight could land on.
02 / Level up

Then try a 6 by 6 grid

  • A knight at the centre of a 6 by 6 grid reaches as many as eight cells. That is a good deal more restrictive than most students expect.
  • Edges and corners have fewer knight connections, so begin in the centre, where the rule bites hardest.
  • Once a digit is placed, trace every L leading away from it. Not one of those landing squares may hold the same digit.
  • The rule chains. If a 3 sits at R2C3 and a knight can reach R4C4, then R4C4 is not 3, which may in turn force the 3 elsewhere in that row. One jump, several consequences.

The rule, drawn

What does Knight's Move Sudoku look like?

  1. Knight's Move Sudoku rule illustration, step 1 of 2
  2. Knight's Move Sudoku rule illustration, step 2 of 2

Start with a single square

Where can you play Knight's Move Sudoku?

Knight's Move Sudoku is one of the 17 variants in Cryptic, each with a lesson and unlimited puzzles.

Get it onGoogle PlayPlay on the web