This was not diabolical! I took a screen shot 8 seconds into it, and 6 minutes later I returned to this video, after solving it. Truly diabolical puzzles have dead ends that require a lot more thought than this one did. But I appreciate that you are trying to teach people how to play this game.
+christos2474 - "... he kept overlooking the 1&7 ..." He did put in the two "7's" on row 6 in columns 5 and 6 very early, right after he wrote in the "5" at 2:20. At that time, the "1" on row 6 would have to be in column 5 or 6, OR in the next group in column 7 or 8. It seems that he didn't necessarily "miss" the "1's" but rather that: 1) He was working on "7's" at the time, and 2) part of his technique is to only (generally ) write down "clues" if the clue is a "pair"... he just doesn't write down "things of 3", or "4", etc... He might make a mental note of it, but beyond that he wouldn't write it down. What's so special that he "missed" the "1's"? Right from the beginning, there are many, perhaps dozens of similar situations, a set of 4 squares that one of the 4 squares must be particular digit. It's just not that "uncommon" of a thing, and writing them all down makes it cluttered.
Pretty sure he means at 19:45 it bugged me too lol the box is touching it makes you think it is impossible to miss but his brain and eyes were just looking/thinking about something different at the same time that we noticed the correct answer to those 2 boxes.
Never watched a Sudoku solution before on YT. This was great to get someone else's perspective or approach. I noticed a couple of missed solutions of course but he saw others before I did. No big deal. It is not easy to sustain the concentration over an entire solution while recording for YT. Learned another way today. Big thumbs up and thanks.
Rob Van Wyck I was frustrated that a diabolical puzzle was solved by the normal elimination techniques. What happens when you can’t eliminate? This puzzle didn’t go into that at all! It doesn’t become diabolical to me until there is no solution without guessing at one to cars the domino effect (that we all do). If that guess is wrong you are screwed. It’s not his fault, but the puzzle maker labeling it as “diabolical” should have thrown in something that makes it lock up at the end. Then he’d have to show us how to solve that. I know there are techniques, but I just can’t seem to understand them!!!
What I got from this video is that his methods need to be perfect but it does solve the hidden pair problem, maybe. But this puzzle doesn't have a hidden pair problem, which is a problem.
I see what is making so many people desperate. He is going through ideas all the way through even though there are other factors that make going down that logical path unnecessary. He is not doing it because it is actually necessary, but because he is making examples of ideas that are necessary to solve puzzles of this nature. I picked up two that I was not using before and, if he had not explained the entire idea, I would not have been able to understand what he was talking about and therefore I would not have been able to pick up the technique in question. He is not solving the puzzle the fastest he could, he is showing all the techniques he uses to solve such puzzles so that other people might pick up those techniques. You already knew all of them and you could have solved it faster? I would hope you could. Way to brag about your capacity to complete a logical puzzle and miss the logical point of this video. It is not like he is trying to hide what his purpose is or doesn't even mention it...
Vendavalez you are correct. He did a very good job using a few helpful techniques throughout the puzzle to come to a solution. Alot of the people who solve these puzzles are competitive, and look for quick solutions. Alot of sudoku apps encourage this by recording your puzzle completion times. There's even a Web site that compares your time, with other people's times and apparently there are people that can solve harder puzzles in about 20 seconds! Of course, most people solve these to relax. Whatever way you find enjoyable, then that is the way you should do it!
Was my first Sodoku related video, praise youtube autoplay. Did learn 1 new method. I was using this before and learned it more or less by myself. Never wrote anything down, because I do this to relax and memorizing possible solutions helps me a lot. I also see one flaw in his explanation. He does this up to down scan and gets stuck and starts then with left to right, what is unnecessary. It gives no new information compared to up/down, because it gives exactly the same results. he overlocked just an solution. And it was not like intentional, he was stuck. Over all it is a really good video, good explanations, easy to reproduce. The catchphrase was a bit annoying maybee.
Even though it’s frustrating seeing how you keep missing the 1 & 7, but the way you showed how to play sudoku is freaking easy!! Thanks for the time you spent. I’m sure there’s a lot of other videos teaching how to play sudoku, but yours is the first that i had watched. So thanks again. Enjoyed it.
lol. Same here. The 5 at the start too. Gotta try not to let it bug you though, because sometimes you'll be looking in a different spot than he is or will be going in a different order. Always makes it appear easier to the onlooker than the person playing.
guys his detail helped me to fully understand sudoku for the first time. tried to do it on my own many times for years and didn't fully understand it. I am thankful for this video.
It's just the begin. When you practice, you would discover by yourself the tricks, without watching tutorials. Sudoku is is a logical puzzle, so you need just to follow logic. I normally solve extreme sudoku's in 10-15 mins (don't even bother to solve simple ones, not challenging)
Great video. I have been solving Sudoku for years. I have had many friends ask me how to solve them. When I try to explain how it is done I can see the confusion on their faces. We all have our own patterns and methods we use while solving puzzles that are hard to explain to others. Now I can just tell them to watch this video. Of course those of us who already know how to do these noticed numbers that could have been filled in. But a beginner who is learning for the first time would not notice. He was teaching a technique that he uses. And I think it takes a lot of skill and patience to go through and explain it as thoroughly as he did. More so than just solving it. I never woud have thought that people would comment on it like it was an issue. Thank you for the video.
"Sokath - his eyes open" ! ! ! Your meticulous demonstration with ongoing explanation is the last work in getting across the technique required to do these maddening puzzles. Thank you so much ! I had all but given up on these Sudoku puzzles. Now I'm back on and must say that what you've shown here has made a world of difference. Brilliant ! ! !
It is easy to solve sudoku puzzle just looking for the character which perfectly will suit the square as per the rules of the game.First go for column or row.If repetition is there twice look for the third similar .You will fix it
Thank you for this very informative video! I hope you don’t let the commenters who think they’re about get the Nobel Prize for pointing out where you simply missed numbers etc, get to you. You’re a wonderful teacher and I hadn’t been exposed to many of these strategies - so thank you again!
This guy way going through the steps to take for those that are not used to doing these puzzles, so missing out what is obvious was deliberate to help people understand the various routes that you can take to solve the puzzle, he was giving people a few different methods to solve the diabolical puzzle. Kudos to him and poor show to those of you putting him down for missing out the obvious, he was going through explanations for those who find it difficult to solve these types of puzzles.
The master of sudoku has just solved fantastically a diabolical puzzle showing his extraordinary talent and prowess calling for unstinting accolades from all concerned. Please keep on enriching your sudoku students with the amazing skill of a teacher par excellence.
19:37 no the bottom right box can only be a 1 because there's already a 1 in the middle row of the middle column. THIS TRIGGERED ME FOR THE REST OF THE VIDEO
I dont know why TH-cam recommended me this, but I really enjoyed this and watched the whole thing without skipping anything. Thanks for this strategy btw, you made me interested in Sudoku again.
I had to check this out because TH-cam recommends my channel videos to people who liked this one. I enjoyed watching your solving technique, and I think you make the top 7 Sudoku strategies used to solve puzzles like this easy to understand. I'll be checking out more of your content.
This was excellent. I was basically taught to go through all the columns and rows first, looking for numbers that can get filled in straight away, as well as pairs of numbers, but after that to start pencilling in all the possible candidates in each unfilled square. This meant that there were lots of little numbers cluttering up the puzzle, making it harder to identify patterns. This chap's approach is much simpler and cleaner and very logical.
This video was really helpful. Thanks for that! However, at 10:50, the end of the 3rd row could have directly been filled with a 2 since a 4 can’t be in the square as indicated by a 4 in cell 1st row 7th column.
Thank you! I did learn something helpful-writing every missing number from each column along the top. I also felt good to see that I have been using all the same reasoning ideas you did. I see now there isn’t any magic I was missing, unfortunately. (That’s important to know.) Very enjoyable sudoku lesson. Do some more!!
This guy is a putz , you would think he would hv solved the puzzle before "missing" some glaring clues, very frustrating to watch an idiot teach something
Why? His method is straightforward, functional and doesn't backtrack much. He did miss some stuff but he's making a video which causes some distraction. His method also show that if you miss something, you are still likely to catch it when you switch from searching rows to searching columns.
Nice puzzle, but not difficult. If no swordfish, x-wing or other more advanced techniques are required a puzzle is not difficult, in my opinion. By the way, I find it much faster to go 1 through 9 over the entire board instead of first doing verticals then horizontals. Because when doing verticals I always also look horizontally anyway.
i remember having this stupidly hard sudoku book, where i had a xy wing that stretched across 6 different numbers. difficulty rating. 4/5 * i had to look it up online to solve it, to this day i still dont understand how I was meant to get it without brute forcing it.
Probably late reply but i think on 20:18 thats an x wing technique. Because he eliminated the 2 candidate on column 3 because of the small rectangle . Hard to explain haha but it really is xwing
Probably late reply but i think on 20:18 thats an x wing technique. Because he eliminated the 2 candidate on column 3 because of the small rectangle . Hard to explain haha but it really is xwing
Thank You for posting! I think you're a great teacher, and what a good method. I tried to work the puzzle and hit a few snags. It's nice to watch you explain the different techniques.
Thanks a lot, I like your method. It’s more structured, I usually only did levels 3/4. But someone bought me a lot of diabolical sudokus, so I decide to try my hand...Totally fail. I used to write all the candidates, it was a little bit overwhelming. I kind of feel like a cheated, by seeing your tutorial lol. But thanks a lot, I was getting frustrated.
Fantastic video. Thanks for that, I learned a lot of techniques. I'm stuck on lots of sudoku puzzles in my book. After watching this video I'm going to go back and try them again.
To his credit, it would have probably taken way less time for him to find it if he were just solving it and not deliberately slowing down for explanation.
In the USA, “The Penny Press” a Publisher of a Variety Puzzle Books called these puzzles “Numbers” decades before its popularity in Japan. Once you start figuring different techniques and complete puzzle after puzzle, they definitely kinda sorta become addicting. Have Fun
Definately, I have learnedq. I was struggling from long years back and i meet no one to teach me at the same time i have huge interest. Thanks a lot. This video opened up my idea
Use triples to single out numbers when you have 4 unknown numbers in a row or column. For example, you had 1568 as possibility in column 8 at timestamp 11:54. R1 was 168, R2 was 1568, R7 was 18 and R8 was 68. By having the triple for R1, R7 and R8 being that R1 contains R7 and R8, in other words 168 contains 16 and 68, you can determine that 168 can be eliminated from R2 and 5 is the only contender left for R2 since R1, R7 and R8 can only contain the numbers 168.
There is some good technique in here, he uses Snyder notation and puts emphasis on finding cells that only require two digits. One of the mistakes many beginners make is trying to fill in too many pencil marks in individual cells, making it much more difficult to spot any patterns, which become useful to solving harder sudoku's. Only thing I would change is that when you get a big number then just do a quick LCR and TMB to check the ramifications of the big number. Ignore the people going on about the 1 & 7, we all miss obvious things and you got there eventually.
You can trigger about the one for a long time, he'll there was a couple that triggered me for awhile but then again we were not the one trying to do a video about it. Thanks for this video, I actually did get something out of it....use a pencil and a felt, box or circle pairs seems to work well. I'll add a pencil to my lunch pail for tonight's puzzle.
I think this is one of the most informative videos about Sudoku puzzles, and how to solve them! Not only informs this video about strategies to tackle these things, it also shows to none Sudoku players how they could get into this. Well done MLA! New sub!
14:54 FOUR 25:43, 25:55 AHA 28:31 I see you there Satan 28:47 OHHH RIGHT HERE 31:25 "So I'm going to erase this" *does not at all erase this* 32:05 literally 4 numbers left "and now we're getting somewhere"
Dot from UK Never really grasped the concept of Sudoku but you explain it really well. I think I'll have to watch lots more though of your videos before I'm let loose to do this on my own. Thank you for taking the time to explain and share. Stay safe, lots of love from UK, Dot x
wow! A diabolical sudoku from start to finish. You have a pleasant voice, it's clear and concise. You explain things very well. I'm new to this hobby. KYour videos have helped me the most out of everything out there. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
This is not at all a diabolical level Sudoku. This is a nice tutorial that lets you solve most medium difficulty puzzles. The technique here are very good for starting all puzzles, but a lot more is required for even the semi-hard puzzles.
I hope I didn't come off as upset or belittling. It's not Monica's or OP's fault, it's the fault of the puzzle maker for labeling it as "diabolical." I've noticed that trend - such mislabeling doesn't really help anybody. I agreed with Monica, this was, as I said, a "nice" tutorial that is very helpful.
You made a mistake @10:39, but it's not that big of a deal as the puzzle book who calls this a very difficult puzzle, as it was rather easy (in terms of problem-solving techniques you needed to use). Overall, you made a great and entertaining video; A great teacher who invites new and advanced players to understand different techniques, which are necessary to solve (hard) Sudokus.
Excellent teaching! I've followed all lessons. Was great 2 "Learn" from early lessons (Practice is vital!) These "Hard" instructions r great reminders of tactics! Many thanks
Thank you. With your dialogue explaining your every thought as you go along, it is like watching a human mind at work. Pretty cool, when you think about that. Keep them coming!
Awesome video! Very helpful! After watching many how to solve sudoku videos, this is the only one that has helped me to solve those very difficult puzzles!
At 8:08, I understand that R7C5 was possibly a 1 or a 4 but what definitely eliminated it from being a 7? I can't find enough information to eliminate it myself.
Because the 1 & 4 are both in the middle row on the left column, neither of them can be in the middle of the center column. In the center column, there are only two squares that are not in the middle row, so those two squares must either hold the 1 or the 4. That should be simple enough, but to go a step further and risk confusing it... If you were to put the 7 in the top spot in the center column, it would force the 1 or the 4 to be in the middle row, and we know that is impossible because they are already both there in the left column.
The first time doing the third column he said there was not enough info for the 4 but clearly it can go in the middle of the last column in the middle box
He did put in the two "7's" on row 6 in columns 5 and 6 very early, right after he wrote in the "5" at 2:20. At that time, the "1" on row 6 would have to be in column 5 or 6, OR in the next group in column 7 or 8. It seems that he didn't necessarily "miss" the "1's" but rather that: 1) He was working on "7's" at the time, and 2) part of his technique is to only (generally ) write down "clues" if the clue is a "pair"... he just doesn't write down "things of 3", or "4", etc... He might make a mental note of it, but beyond that he wouldn't write it down. What's so special that he "missed" the "1's"? Right from the beginning, there are many, perhaps dozens of similar situations, a set of 4 squares that one of the 4 squares must be particular digit. It's just not that "uncommon" of a thing, and writing them all down makes it cluttered.
Kevin Fegan, they are not talking about at 2:20 when the answer is unknown, they are talking about at 19:45 when the answer become clear but he just doesn't notice it because his brain was processing something different at the time.
You made an excellent video. You explain yourself for every move, which some need. When those more familiar are watching this on a laptop, we can fast forward you in 10 second increments (->). I learned some new techniques. If you watch a number of different sudoku experts, you learn a variety of tricks.
I found myself talking to you! haha. "IT'S a 2! when you missed the obvious one, but easy for me, I'm not teaching it! I really enjoyed it and I do appreciate the video!
25 clues... it's more of a medium than a "diabolical". I came here looking for a swordfish or x-wing tutorial, guess I overestimated the titles these puzzles are given.
I see it all the time in my Sunday paper. The difficulty level is always highly subjective. The Sunday puzzle is always a "5 star" puzzle, but some weeks it solves as easily as a 3 star - other weeks, it's more like 6 stars. I was hoping for more advanced techniques, myself.
Some 17's are very easy. The correlation between difficulty and number of clues is very weak. Even puzzles which need X-wing or Swordfish are nowhere near diabolical.
Thank you. I found your method of noting down the possible solutions in pencil to be very helpful. I always try to keep a mental picture of where they should go but it becomes like a juggling act and I often need to re-figure. So from now on a pencil and a pen will become necessities. An entertaining 32:49.
I wrote software in school for years. Solving the most difficult problems always started with hand written attempts, followed by iterations removing steps until one “perfect” set of steps resulted in a universal solution algorithm. I haven’t looked but I’m sure there are sudoku software solutions all over the web. But what fun would that be. Thank you!
That is just the point. Puzzles are rated easy or beginner, medium, hard, etc. Diabolical should be extremely hard, not intended for beginners. This video is very valuable for what it is. Just mislabeled perhaps.
Hey. Found the video really helpful in terms of applying new transcription to aid solve the puzzles. However, I'm finding that using the method here, I'm often struggling to complete the puzzle once I've made several passes over the columns and rows of 3, having narrowed down the options as far as I can. Is there a technique anyone can recommend for "closing it out" when the options aren't presenting a way forward?
Many people have made comments like “It was maddening that he didn’t see the 1 & 7 over there”. Initially I kinda agreed, _but_ the more I watched the more I appreciated what was going on. That is, he always stays very focused on the row/column that he’s currently working on. Once I realized that, I started to admire his technique. I.e. I tend to hop around a lot (and I often hose myself that way). So it was great watching his discipline in action. Also, this deliberate, step-by-step approach is really good for a “teaching-oriented” video like this. Makes the logic _much_ easier to follow Great job. I learned a lot watching this.
Thank you so much. I do Sudoku all the time and I loved the way you reasoned this out. I learned a lot and appreciate you taking the time to make this video.It's funny that there are some are making some unkind comments, but it makes me wonder, if they were already so good at solving these puzzles, why would they take the time to watch this video. It reminds me of when I used to bowl on a mixed league team and every body was giving me tips on how to bowl better when they had lower averages than I did. LOL Again thank you.... I did learn some very valuable information!!!!!
This puzzle didn't seem "diabolical," but it did provide a way to demonstrate some advanced solving techniques. I do appreciate the desire to not waste our time by going fast. Another way to approach this would be to speed up certain sections, then slow way down when some new logic principles are introduced. Anyway, I learned some stuff. --Thum Bsup
An alle, die hier rumnörgeln wegen des angeblich zu geringen Schwirigkeitsgrades: Wenn Ihr alle solch Sudoku-Meister seid, was schaut ihr Euch noch Tutorials an? Und wenn er auch einige Lösungen mal übersieht: Das ist sicher nicht einfach, gleichzeitig zu lösen und zu erklären. Das ist wie mit WWM: Auf dem Sofa ist die Antwort ganz einfach, auf dem Stuhl im Studio vielleicht nicht mehr. Ich find seine Tips und Erklärungen gut und sehr hilfreich und vor allem und easy anzuwenden. Keep on plugging away, i like ur Tutorials!!! :-)
+Madnesss96 - He said: "To all of you who are complaining about the allegedly too low degree of swirling: If you are all such sudoku masters, what are you looking at tutorials? And even if he overlooks a few solutions, that's certainly not easy to solve and explain at the same time. It's like WWM: the answer is simple on the sofa, maybe not on the chair in the studio anymore. I find his tips and explanations good and very helpful and above all and easy to use." (thanks to Google translate, not that difficult).
+Old Man Gaming Yes, I agree. Where he makes a mistake, that's OK to mention. But to mention that somewhere, he has missed mentioning something that "might be", no, that's not worth mentioning.
We non-beginners were click-baited by the word "diabolical" in the title. The only sudoku rated diabolical I've encountered were on this site: www.sudoku.org.uk/Daily.asp, and they were almost always unsolvable using advanced logical patterns such as the various kinds of wings. They were solvable only by long forcing chains (guesses) which I consider not legitimate. This one was easy and solvable by elementary basic techniques.
I just wanted to show that there are Germans with a better grasp of the English language than +Kevin Fegan I have translated the original comment as well: "To all those that are complaining about the allegedly too low difficulty: If you are such sudoku masters, why do you watch tutorials? Even if he overlooks some solutions: It is certainly not easy to solve and explain simultaneously. It is like WWTBM: On the couch, the answer is really easy, on the chair in the studio it maybe is not anymore. In my opinion, his tips and explanations are good and very helpful and most of all and easy to use. Keep on plugging away, I like your tutorials!!! :-)" All the grammatical and logical errors I kept in were to stay closer to the original comment which is full of these too.
I do similar but I use dots 1,2,3 top row - 4,5,6 middle row, and 7,8,9 bottom row to indicate the possible numbers in each cell. This Sodoku puzzle was hard, but I solved it pretty fast using my similar method. It's just a different means to the same end. Good trainer though, as this method works on every one I have encountered.
You are intuitively applying advanced game tree pruning rules to solve this without perhaps realizing it. Also, it would be very interesting to see if the puzzle could be solved using linear/matrix algebra manipulations; albeit, I’m inclined to think that it won’t work in this ‘diabolical’ case. Nonetheless, it would be a great exercise. It would likewise be interesting to write a code for minimax with alpha-beta pruning, in conjunction with iterative deepening, as an alternative algorithmic approach to the solution.
This was not diabolical! I took a screen shot 8 seconds into it, and 6 minutes later I returned to this video, after solving it. Truly diabolical puzzles have dead ends that require a lot more thought than this one did. But I appreciate that you are trying to teach people how to play this game.
I used to be really fast at these. I am starting again :)
28:50 the most satisfying part when he finally finds the 1and7 🥵
I can't agree more 😁
😂
I know!!!! So annoyed by it :D
Oh god yes was killing me...
And everyone says Finally...
Am I the only person that was driven mad that he kept overlooking the 1&7 in the middle box?
same here
I was driven mad by the fact that he kept repeating 'it just takes a long time'. Can't complain about the missed numbers.. I do that all the time..
+christos2474 - "... he kept overlooking the 1&7 ..."
He did put in the two "7's" on row 6 in columns 5 and 6 very early, right after he wrote in the "5" at 2:20.
At that time, the "1" on row 6 would have to be in column 5 or 6, OR in the next group in column 7 or 8. It seems that he didn't necessarily "miss" the "1's" but rather that:
1) He was working on "7's" at the time, and
2) part of his technique is to only (generally ) write down "clues" if the clue is a "pair"... he just doesn't write down "things of 3", or "4", etc...
He might make a mental note of it, but beyond that he wouldn't write it down.
What's so special that he "missed" the "1's"? Right from the beginning, there are many, perhaps dozens of similar situations, a set of 4 squares that one of the 4 squares must be particular digit. It's just not that "uncommon" of a thing, and writing them all down makes it cluttered.
no
Pretty sure he means at 19:45 it bugged me too lol
the box is touching it makes you think it is impossible to miss but his brain and eyes were just looking/thinking about something different at the same time that we noticed the correct answer to those 2 boxes.
Never watched a Sudoku solution before on YT. This was great to get someone else's perspective or approach. I noticed a couple of missed solutions of course but he saw others before I did. No big deal. It is not easy to sustain the concentration over an entire solution while recording for YT. Learned another way today. Big thumbs up and thanks.
Rob Van Wyck
I was frustrated that a diabolical puzzle was solved by the normal elimination techniques. What happens when you can’t eliminate? This puzzle didn’t go into that at all! It doesn’t become diabolical to me until there is no solution without guessing at one to cars the domino effect (that we all do). If that guess is wrong you are screwed. It’s not his fault, but the puzzle maker labeling it as “diabolical” should have thrown in something that makes it lock up at the end. Then he’d have to show us how to solve that. I know there are techniques, but I just can’t seem to understand them!!!
What I got from this video:
- He's just plugging away at it
- He's normally not this sloppy but he's trying to go fast
What I got from this video is that his methods need to be perfect but it does solve the hidden pair problem, maybe. But this puzzle doesn't have a hidden pair problem, which is a problem.
Makes you wonder how long it takes when he's trying to be neat...
@@ta192utube As other people have pointed out, he's trying to show certain techniques for when you are lost, not trying to be as fast as he can
@@joeblack621 Suggest him a puzzle with a 'hidden pair' and see whether he solves it also.
Opposite, he is rigid and slow, so slow...
I see what is making so many people desperate. He is going through ideas all the way through even though there are other factors that make going down that logical path unnecessary. He is not doing it because it is actually necessary, but because he is making examples of ideas that are necessary to solve puzzles of this nature. I picked up two that I was not using before and, if he had not explained the entire idea, I would not have been able to understand what he was talking about and therefore I would not have been able to pick up the technique in question. He is not solving the puzzle the fastest he could, he is showing all the techniques he uses to solve such puzzles so that other people might pick up those techniques. You already knew all of them and you could have solved it faster? I would hope you could. Way to brag about your capacity to complete a logical puzzle and miss the logical point of this video. It is not like he is trying to hide what his purpose is or doesn't even mention it...
Vendavalez you are correct. He did a very good job using a few helpful techniques throughout the puzzle to come to a solution. Alot of the people who solve these puzzles are competitive, and look for quick solutions. Alot of sudoku apps encourage this by recording your puzzle completion times. There's even a Web site that compares your time, with other people's times and apparently there are people that can solve harder puzzles in about 20 seconds! Of course, most people solve these to relax. Whatever way you find enjoyable, then that is the way you should do it!
Was my first Sodoku related video, praise youtube autoplay. Did learn 1 new method. I was using this before and learned it more or less by myself. Never wrote anything down, because I do this to relax and memorizing possible solutions helps me a lot. I also see one flaw in his explanation. He does this up to down scan and gets stuck and starts then with left to right, what is unnecessary. It gives no new information compared to up/down, because it gives exactly the same results. he overlocked just an solution. And it was not like intentional, he was stuck. Over all it is a really good video, good explanations, easy to reproduce. The catchphrase was a bit annoying maybee.
I agree completely.
Vendavalez 🐣🦇🦄🐙🐠🐢🕷🦋🐌🦋
This is the first video I watched and the one I keep going back to for refresher.
Even though it’s frustrating seeing how you keep missing the 1 & 7, but the way you showed how to play sudoku is freaking easy!! Thanks for the time you spent. I’m sure there’s a lot of other videos teaching how to play sudoku, but yours is the first that i had watched. So thanks again. Enjoyed it.
lol. Same here. The 5 at the start too. Gotta try not to let it bug you though, because sometimes you'll be looking in a different spot than he is or will be going in a different order. Always makes it appear easier to the onlooker than the person playing.
guys his detail helped me to fully understand sudoku for the first time. tried to do it on my own many times for years and didn't fully understand it. I am thankful for this video.
The sudoku guy
V
Yes like what you said...i dont understand before, now i do.
It's just the begin. When you practice, you would discover by yourself the tricks, without watching tutorials. Sudoku is is a logical puzzle, so you need just to follow logic.
I normally solve extreme sudoku's in 10-15 mins (don't even bother to solve simple ones, not challenging)
Ahhh
Great video. I have been solving Sudoku for years. I have had many friends ask me how to solve them. When I try to explain how it is done I can see the confusion on their faces. We all have our own patterns and methods we use while solving puzzles that are hard to explain to others. Now I can just tell them to watch this video. Of course those of us who already know how to do these noticed numbers that could have been filled in. But a beginner who is learning for the first time would not notice. He was teaching a technique that he uses. And I think it takes a lot of skill and patience to go through and explain it as thoroughly as he did. More so than just solving it. I never woud have thought that people would comment on it like it was an issue. Thank you for the video.
"Sokath - his eyes open" ! ! ! Your meticulous demonstration with ongoing explanation is the last work in getting across the technique required to do these maddening puzzles. Thank you so much ! I had all but given up on these Sudoku puzzles. Now I'm back on and must say that what you've shown here has made a world of difference. Brilliant ! ! !
It is easy to solve sudoku puzzle just looking for the character which perfectly will suit the square as per the rules of the game.First go for column or row.If repetition is there twice look for the third similar .You will fix it
I understand that reference! Right on, dood!
Shaka, when the walls fell.
Thank you for this very informative video! I hope you don’t let the commenters who think they’re about get the Nobel Prize for pointing out where you simply missed numbers etc, get to you. You’re a wonderful teacher and I hadn’t been exposed to many of these strategies - so thank you again!
Don't be telling him that S#%*,,,he will need a bigger hat
3:46 you can put the four in right then and there, but nope apparently it's "not enough info"... ok, ok
this pissed me off
Lexie Leith he could put the 3rd 4 in the square right and down.
He could put a 4 in 49 or 58 at that point. How could he narrow it down even more?
Steven Lytle - He can't put it in 49, because there's already a 4 in 46. So, it has to be in 58.
Of course. Lexie is right. He could have put the 4 in 58 at any time, but missed it till later.
This guy way going through the steps to take for those that are not used to doing these puzzles, so missing out what is obvious was deliberate to help people understand the various routes that you can take to solve the puzzle, he was giving people a few different methods to solve the diabolical puzzle.
Kudos to him and poor show to those of you putting him down for missing out the obvious, he was going through explanations for those who find it difficult to solve these types of puzzles.
4? Not enough information....
Looks at middle right box that gives him the 4 in ghe middle and cries.
Ya
At 3:42
dr.shailesh Bhanushali - And again at 10:30
Misses the 3s in the first box, it's like following a blind guy , no offence directed to blind people, just a euphemism
The master of sudoku has just solved fantastically a diabolical puzzle showing his extraordinary talent and prowess calling for unstinting accolades from all concerned. Please keep on enriching your sudoku students with the amazing skill of a teacher par excellence.
19:37 no the bottom right box can only be a 1 because there's already a 1 in the middle row of the middle column. THIS TRIGGERED ME FOR THE REST OF THE VIDEO
I was hitting my head with the mouse for 10 minutes at least because of that....
You're lucky, I was triggered for the rest of the video starting from 10:45, top right box there's already a 4 so it has to be a 2.
Or 5 on the next row over. I'd imagine he's intentionally avoiding some of them.
maybe he lost focus because of being recorded (?)
lol me too
Thanks for the video.
No worries about the length. It's educational so it takes as long as it takes.
I dont know why TH-cam recommended me this, but I really enjoyed this and watched the whole thing without skipping anything. Thanks for this strategy btw, you made me interested in Sudoku again.
I had to check this out because TH-cam recommends my channel videos to people who liked this one. I enjoyed watching your solving technique, and I think you make the top 7 Sudoku strategies used to solve puzzles like this easy to understand. I'll be checking out more of your content.
This was excellent. I was basically taught to go through all the columns and rows first, looking for numbers that can get filled in straight away, as well as pairs of numbers, but after that to start pencilling in all the possible candidates in each unfilled square. This meant that there were lots of little numbers cluttering up the puzzle, making it harder to identify patterns. This chap's approach is much simpler and cleaner and very logical.
32 minutes well spent, I learned a lot about solving sudoku, thank you, thumbs UP
10:43 It can only be a 2, because there is a 4 in that square already.
exactly my thought lmao
This really annoyed me.
No. Not enough Information.
I was talking to the screen "but there's a 4 already there" made me crazy (er)
What's really diabolical is writing 2 in two different ways.
lol
What are you talking about? I'm looking at all the 2s at the end. He written them them all the same.
@@franckpadilla9004 This guy didn't.
@@toribashmaster201 I don't see it
Look at nya's comment LOL
This video was really helpful. Thanks for that! However, at 10:50, the end of the 3rd row could have directly been filled with a 2 since a 4 can’t be in the square as indicated by a 4 in cell 1st row 7th column.
Thank you! I did learn something helpful-writing every missing number from each column along the top. I also felt good to see that I have been using all the same reasoning ideas you did. I see now there isn’t any magic I was missing, unfortunately. (That’s important to know.) Very enjoyable sudoku lesson. Do some more!!
I'm glad I figured out sudoku by myself. If I had tried to learn from this I'd never have started.
😂
This guy is a putz , you would think he would hv solved the puzzle before "missing" some glaring clues, very frustrating to watch an idiot teach something
You must be an idiot then
Why? His method is straightforward, functional and doesn't backtrack much. He did miss some stuff but he's making a video which causes some distraction. His method also show that if you miss something, you are still likely to catch it when you switch from searching rows to searching columns.
Nice puzzle, but not difficult. If no swordfish, x-wing or other more advanced techniques are required a puzzle is not difficult, in my opinion.
By the way, I find it much faster to go 1 through 9 over the entire board instead of first doing verticals then horizontals. Because when doing verticals I always also look horizontally anyway.
but he did use X-wing, he just didn't specify the name
Agreed - pretty tame if even I can solve it under 6 min without any advanced stunts. At least it's a single sol'n.
i remember having this stupidly hard sudoku book, where i had a xy wing that stretched across 6 different numbers.
difficulty rating. 4/5 *
i had to look it up online to solve it, to this day i still dont understand how I was meant to get it without brute forcing it.
Probably late reply but i think on 20:18 thats an x wing technique. Because he eliminated the 2 candidate on column 3 because of the small rectangle . Hard to explain haha but it really is xwing
Probably late reply but i think on 20:18 thats an x wing technique. Because he eliminated the 2 candidate on column 3 because of the small rectangle . Hard to explain haha but it really is xwing
Thank You for posting! I think you're a great teacher, and what a good method. I tried to work the puzzle and hit a few snags. It's nice to watch you explain the different techniques.
That proof was very well done. Doesn't matter that it took that long. We slower ones got to see every move and how you did it. Very helpful - thanks.
It's so satisfying to see all these numbers come together
Thanks a lot, I like your method. It’s more structured, I usually only did levels 3/4. But someone bought me a lot of diabolical sudokus, so I decide to try my hand...Totally fail. I used to write all the candidates, it was a little bit overwhelming. I kind of feel like a cheated, by seeing your tutorial lol. But thanks a lot, I was getting frustrated.
Fantastic video. Thanks for that, I learned a lot of techniques. I'm stuck on lots of sudoku puzzles in my book. After watching this video I'm going to go back and try them again.
The 1 in the middle box was clear for more than 10 minutes.
To his credit, it would have probably taken way less time for him to find it if he were just solving it and not deliberately slowing down for explanation.
Yeah, so was the 5 in the middle of the top right box.
it was driving me nuts he did not fill in that 1 and the 7 in the middle
montetank tankkiller same with the most obvious 5 in the bottom middle box from the start.
same
This technique is a huge help, im new to these puzzles and I bought a book full of them that was waaay too hard. Thanks! 👍
Thanks for sharing and taking your time, I have looked at a few other videos of people solving puzzles and they don't explain as clearly.
Sudoku ist strangely comforting. Every number added makes the solution expediently easier ♥
Yes, I do it to relax and deals with anxiety❤
In the USA, “The Penny Press” a Publisher of a Variety Puzzle Books called these puzzles “Numbers” decades before its popularity in Japan.
Once you start figuring different techniques and complete puzzle after puzzle, they definitely kinda sorta become addicting.
Have Fun
Definately, I have learnedq. I was struggling from long years back and i meet no one to teach me at the same time i have huge interest.
Thanks a lot. This video opened up my idea
Ti stai complicando la vita iniziando dal quadrante sbagliato
Use triples to single out numbers when you have 4 unknown numbers in a row or column. For example, you had 1568 as possibility in column 8 at timestamp 11:54. R1 was 168, R2 was 1568, R7 was 18 and R8 was 68. By having the triple for R1, R7 and R8 being that R1 contains R7 and R8, in other words 168 contains 16 and 68, you can determine that 168 can be eliminated from R2 and 5 is the only contender left for R2 since R1, R7 and R8 can only contain the numbers 168.
There is some good technique in here, he uses Snyder notation and puts emphasis on finding cells that only require two digits. One of the mistakes many beginners make is trying to fill in too many pencil marks in individual cells, making it much more difficult to spot any patterns, which become useful to solving harder sudoku's. Only thing I would change is that when you get a big number then just do a quick LCR and TMB to check the ramifications of the big number. Ignore the people going on about the 1 & 7, we all miss obvious things and you got there eventually.
Got different perspective while watching your video. Thankyou to you from bottom of my heart for accessing your brain.
You can trigger about the one for a long time, he'll there was a couple that triggered me for awhile but then again we were not the one trying to do a video about it. Thanks for this video, I actually did get something out of it....use a pencil and a felt, box or circle pairs seems to work well. I'll add a pencil to my lunch pail for tonight's puzzle.
I think this is one of the most informative videos about Sudoku puzzles, and how to solve them! Not only informs this video about strategies to tackle these things, it also shows to none Sudoku players how they could get into this.
Well done MLA! New sub!
That's a good job doing it in real time, and I got a few tips for notation I hadn't seen before.
14:54 FOUR
25:43, 25:55 AHA
28:31 I see you there Satan
28:47 OHHH RIGHT HERE
31:25 "So I'm going to erase this" *does not at all erase this*
32:05 literally 4 numbers left "and now we're getting somewhere"
Dot from UK
Never really grasped the concept of Sudoku but you explain it really well. I think I'll have to watch lots more though of your videos before I'm let loose to do this on my own. Thank you for taking the time to explain and share. Stay safe, lots of love from UK, Dot x
This was very helpful. Please continue doing the really hard ones because I haven't completely grasped this system. 👍
wow! A diabolical sudoku from start to finish. You have a pleasant voice, it's clear and concise. You explain things very well. I'm new to this hobby. KYour videos have helped me the most out of everything out there. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
This is not at all a diabolical level Sudoku. This is a nice tutorial that lets you solve most medium difficulty puzzles. The technique here are very good for starting all puzzles, but a lot more is required for even the semi-hard puzzles.
Gary Bisaga maybe it’s diabolical for Monica, ok? Just settle down, pal.
I hope I didn't come off as upset or belittling. It's not Monica's or OP's fault, it's the fault of the puzzle maker for labeling it as "diabolical." I've noticed that trend - such mislabeling doesn't really help anybody. I agreed with Monica, this was, as I said, a "nice" tutorial that is very helpful.
Monica your optimistic attitude is refreshing. Just fyi though, this wasn't really a very hard sudoku all things considered.
@@gbisaga I'm sure glad this isn't a diabolical puzzle..otherwise it would have taken him all day
AHA!!!!!!
I came here justo to do this exactly commentary hahahhaahaha
I think actually this video started my sudoku journey like a few years back so yeah I am forever grateful dude!
Well, I’m grateful for finding another method. Thank you for putting in the time and work.
You made a mistake @10:39, but it's not that big of a deal as the puzzle book who calls this a very difficult puzzle, as it was rather easy (in terms of problem-solving techniques you needed to use).
Overall, you made a great and entertaining video; A great teacher who invites new and advanced players to understand different techniques, which are necessary to solve (hard) Sudokus.
Thanks. I finally have a pattern that I can use with notes that are neither too few, nor too many, so that I got lost in the data.
Perfect demo and explanation, exactly what I was looking for. I learned a lot, many many thanks!
Excellent teaching! I've followed all lessons. Was great 2 "Learn" from early lessons (Practice is vital!) These "Hard" instructions r great reminders of tactics! Many thanks
Perfect and clear explanation .
Thanks a lot for your wonderful teaching .🙏👌👏🙏
The pairs technique has really helped me out.
Thank you. With your dialogue explaining your every thought as you go along, it is like watching a human mind at work. Pretty cool, when you think about that. Keep them coming!
Diabolical puzzles cannot be solved using simple process of elimination... That's why they are diabolical... Medium at best
True, not even hard
True. Diabolical level requires more than deductive reasoning.
@@luismorelos1334 He did it, but it is NOT a diabolical. It is a medium difficulty sudoku at best.
@@janvanput o ok that makes sense. But that means this video is a fraud!
I agree
I like your approach and explanations. I would love to see more of your Sudoku teaching!
Awesome video! Very helpful! After watching many how to solve sudoku videos, this is the only one that has helped me to solve those very difficult puzzles!
At 8:08, I understand that R7C5 was possibly a 1 or a 4 but what definitely eliminated it from being a 7? I can't find enough information to eliminate it myself.
Because the 1 & 4 are both in the middle row on the left column, neither of them can be in the middle of the center column. In the center column, there are only two squares that are not in the middle row, so those two squares must either hold the 1 or the 4.
That should be simple enough, but to go a step further and risk confusing it... If you were to put the 7 in the top spot in the center column, it would force the 1 or the 4 to be in the middle row, and we know that is impossible because they are already both there in the left column.
Ribeiro
kur1ta
The first time doing the third column he said there was not enough info for the 4 but clearly it can go in the middle of the last column in the middle box
The missed 1 and 7 on row 6 is making me cringe so much...
He did put in the two "7's" on row 6 in columns 5 and 6 very early, right after he wrote in the "5" at 2:20.
At that time, the "1" on row 6 would have to be in column 5 or 6, OR in the next group in column 7 or 8. It seems that he didn't necessarily "miss" the "1's" but rather that:
1) He was working on "7's" at the time, and
2) part of his technique is to only (generally ) write down "clues" if the clue is a "pair"... he just doesn't write down "things of 3", or "4", etc...
He might make a mental note of it, but beyond that he wouldn't write it down.
What's so special that he "missed" the "1's"? Right from the beginning, there are many, perhaps dozens of similar situations, a set of 4 squares that one of the 4 squares must be particular digit. It's just not that "uncommon" of a thing, and writing them all down makes it cluttered.
It is simply frustrating and irritating, there are so many obvious one and he keeps missing them.
Kevin Fegan, they are not talking about at 2:20 when the answer is unknown, they are talking about at 19:45 when the answer become clear but he just doesn't notice it because his brain was processing something different at the time.
@@JohnSmith-yq7gu If I only had a brain
I haven't seen it solved with exactly this notation. I'll try it. Thanks from Texas.
You made an excellent video. You explain yourself for every move, which some need. When those more familiar are watching this on a laptop, we can fast forward you in 10 second increments (->). I learned some new techniques. If you watch a number of different sudoku experts, you learn a variety of tricks.
I found myself talking to you! haha. "IT'S a 2! when you missed the obvious one, but easy for me, I'm not teaching it! I really enjoyed it and I do appreciate the video!
25 clues... it's more of a medium than a "diabolical". I came here looking for a swordfish or x-wing tutorial, guess I overestimated the titles these puzzles are given.
Trab Aton Yes - apparently 17 clues are the minimum for a unique solution
I see it all the time in my Sunday paper. The difficulty level is always highly subjective. The Sunday puzzle is always a "5 star" puzzle, but some weeks it solves as easily as a 3 star - other weeks, it's more like 6 stars. I was hoping for more advanced techniques, myself.
27 numbers is no more than a medium. 17 - 19 would be diabolical
Some 17's are very easy. The correlation between difficulty and number of clues is very weak.
Even puzzles which need X-wing or Swordfish are nowhere near diabolical.
Congratulations. You just made me love sudoku
Deep concentration made it possible in an easy way avoiding sophisticated technics.Hats Off.
Thank you for solving the puzzle from scratch and I learnt some new techniques from your video. I appreciate your efforts!
Why do you keep overlooking the 4 in the beginning, it's driving me mad!!?
Yep, same here...
Yeap. The 4 in row 5 col8 and the double 1-4 in the middle square box after he puts the first 5 cracks the puzzle and after that is pretty simple.
Agreed
Thank you. I found your method of noting down the possible solutions in pencil to be very helpful. I always try to keep a mental picture of where they should go but it becomes like a juggling act and I often need to re-figure. So from now on a pencil and a pen will become necessities.
An entertaining 32:49.
It's cheating IMO, makes it way to easy. Keeping track of that mental picture is what stimulates your brain, which is the meaning of sudoku.
As in chess, you have to play out the moves in your head, instead of asking your opponent to make trial moves.
Exactly. Have to do it in your head. If you get to write stuff down it's child's play. Any moron can do it then.
When you write down a good number you're supposed to look at the grid to see how that find affects other numbers. This guy doesn't do that.
He dose too...just not enough information...lol
Agree with table black 35 'S comments.
I wrote software in school for years. Solving the most difficult problems always started with hand written attempts, followed by iterations removing steps until one “perfect” set of steps resulted in a universal solution algorithm. I haven’t looked but I’m sure there are sudoku software solutions all over the web. But what fun would that be. Thank you!
really enjoy your exlaination of solving difficult puzzle Keep them coming!!!!
Ok now I understand people who watch sports programs on TV
hardly diabolical. not even medium
SO true. There are Much harder puzzles out there.
Its diabolical for a beginner. Not everyone's an expert
That is just the point. Puzzles are rated easy or beginner, medium, hard, etc. Diabolical should be extremely hard, not intended for beginners. This video is very valuable for what it is. Just mislabeled perhaps.
പോടാ തായോളി, കുണ്ണത്താളം പറയുന്നോ ?
ആ പാവം അത്രേം ചെയ്ത പാട് അവനേ അറിയൂ.
@@anandus3174 Now to me this is diabolical !
Peace.
I finally get it. Now I can finally smoke my dad at these things. Thank you.
Hey. Found the video really helpful in terms of applying new transcription to aid solve the puzzles. However, I'm finding that using the method here, I'm often struggling to complete the puzzle once I've made several passes over the columns and rows of 3, having narrowed down the options as far as I can. Is there a technique anyone can recommend for "closing it out" when the options aren't presenting a way forward?
Many people have made comments like “It was maddening that he didn’t see the 1 & 7 over there”.
Initially I kinda agreed, _but_ the more I watched the more I appreciated what was going on. That is, he always stays very focused on the row/column that he’s currently working on.
Once I realized that, I started to admire his technique. I.e. I tend to hop around a lot (and I often hose myself that way). So it was great watching his discipline in action.
Also, this deliberate, step-by-step approach is really good for a “teaching-oriented” video like this. Makes the logic _much_ easier to follow
Great job. I learned a lot watching this.
Whatever comments it may be but he is a good trainer
Could you not see the 4 in the top square when you wrote the 2 and 4?
3:43 there were enough information to put no. 4 in the middle box of the right part
Was looking for something to watch, this popped in recommended and I thoroughly enjoyed this! Esp the last few solutions, lowkey got me hype lol 😂
I learned a lot from your videos, and I understand why'd you do this so slowly, because its meant to be didatic. Thank you very much!
Thanks for this making my 30mins unwasted. Now I have a new hobby. 😂❤
this isn't difficult at all
Don't forget that this video was meant to be watched by Americans.
Insanes Productions Said the person who watched it.😂
Clarification, Insanes Productions: not all of us, just Douchebag Donny supporters.
Insanes Productions aa
He never said it was difficult, he even said several times it wasn't difficult just time consuming.
That was intensely satisfying to watch.
You're kidding
I appreciate the detail and taking you time on each number
Thank you so much. I do Sudoku all the time and I loved the way you reasoned this out. I learned a lot and appreciate you taking the time to make this video.It's funny that there are some are making some unkind comments, but it makes me wonder, if they were already so good at solving these puzzles, why would they take the time to watch this video. It reminds me of when I used to bowl on a mixed league team and every body was giving me tips on how to bowl better when they had lower averages than I did. LOL Again thank you.... I did learn some very valuable information!!!!!
This puzzle didn't seem "diabolical," but it did provide a way to demonstrate some advanced solving techniques. I do appreciate the desire to not waste our time by going fast. Another way to approach this would be to speed up certain sections, then slow way down when some new logic principles are introduced. Anyway, I learned some stuff. --Thum Bsup
An alle, die hier rumnörgeln wegen des angeblich zu geringen Schwirigkeitsgrades: Wenn Ihr alle solch Sudoku-Meister seid, was schaut ihr Euch noch Tutorials an? Und wenn er auch einige Lösungen mal übersieht: Das ist sicher nicht einfach, gleichzeitig zu lösen und zu erklären. Das ist wie mit WWM: Auf dem Sofa ist die Antwort ganz einfach, auf dem Stuhl im Studio vielleicht nicht mehr. Ich find seine Tips und Erklärungen gut und sehr hilfreich und vor allem und easy anzuwenden.
Keep on plugging away, i like ur Tutorials!!! :-)
Most people won't understand you.
Aber ich stimme dir völlig zu.
+Madnesss96 - He said:
"To all of you who are complaining about the allegedly too low degree of swirling: If you are all such sudoku masters, what are you looking at tutorials? And even if he overlooks a few solutions, that's certainly not easy to solve and explain at the same time. It's like WWM: the answer is simple on the sofa, maybe not on the chair in the studio anymore. I find his tips and explanations good and very helpful and above all and easy to use." (thanks to Google translate, not that difficult).
+Old Man Gaming
Yes, I agree. Where he makes a mistake, that's OK to mention. But to mention that somewhere, he has missed mentioning something that "might be", no, that's not worth mentioning.
We non-beginners were click-baited by the word "diabolical" in the title. The only sudoku rated diabolical I've encountered were on this site: www.sudoku.org.uk/Daily.asp, and they were almost always unsolvable using advanced logical patterns such as the various kinds of wings. They were solvable only by long forcing chains (guesses) which I consider not legitimate. This one was easy and solvable by elementary basic techniques.
I just wanted to show that there are Germans with a better grasp of the English language than +Kevin Fegan I have translated the original comment as well:
"To all those that are complaining about the allegedly too low difficulty: If you are such sudoku masters, why do you watch tutorials? Even if he overlooks some solutions: It is certainly not easy to solve and explain simultaneously. It is like WWTBM: On the couch, the answer is really easy, on the chair in the studio it maybe is not anymore. In my opinion, his tips and explanations are good and very helpful and most of all and easy to use.
Keep on plugging away, I like your tutorials!!! :-)"
All the grammatical and logical errors I kept in were to stay closer to the original comment which is full of these too.
thank you , that was pretty instructive
I was stuck at a hard puzzle. Then i came across your video then went back to the puzzle and solved it. I was doing everything wrong lol thank you.
I do similar but I use dots 1,2,3 top row - 4,5,6 middle row, and 7,8,9 bottom row to indicate the possible numbers in each cell. This Sodoku puzzle was hard, but I solved it pretty fast using my similar method. It's just a different means to the same end. Good trainer though, as this method works on every one I have encountered.
thank you, very helpful indeed.
At 4:20 min, box H5, You'd Have Put digit "4".
Yeah, oh my gosh, It drove me insane .-.
Neatly explained! thanks looking forward for more
That was fascinating! I'm going to watch it again too. Thank you.
You are intuitively applying advanced game tree pruning rules to solve this without perhaps realizing it. Also, it would be very interesting to see if the puzzle could be solved using linear/matrix algebra manipulations; albeit, I’m inclined to think that it won’t work in this ‘diabolical’ case. Nonetheless, it would be a great exercise. It would likewise be interesting to write a code for minimax with alpha-beta pruning, in conjunction with iterative deepening, as an alternative algorithmic approach to the solution.