Across the Board

This book is extremely well written and is, no doubt, the best exposition of the connection between the chessboard problems and recreational mathematics. The author surveys all the well-known problems about chess and the chessboard... The problems are treated in depth from their beginnings through to their status today. --Mohammed Aassila, MAA Review Torus-shaped boards, three-dimensional boards, a shape called the Klein bottle--the simple checkerboard pattern proves to be creatively malleable when Watkins puts his mind to his hobbylike subject. Watkins' invitational tone ensures attention from the finite but enthusiastic audience for mathematical recreation. -- Booklist Watkins offers an excellent invitation to serious mathematics. -- Choice I would be happy to recommend this book to you... The book is an easy and entertaining read that shows numerous paths into various branches of discrete mathematics and graph theory. --Paul J. Campbell, Mathematics Magazine This is not just about chess, but also the three centuries of 'recreational mathematics' that the game has inspired. From simple questions, such as whether it is possible for a knight to land on each square of the board on its path, Watkins wades into graph theory, the mathematics of three-dimensional chess and even chess on a torus. -- Nature Physics This book is stimulating and very well written. It is admirably clear... Definitely the book is highly recommended and is of much interest. This book is, no doubt, the newly best exposition of the interconnection between amusing recreational mathematics and the interesting chessboard problems. I feel sure that it will be of great use both to students of graph theory, geometry, topology and mathematics, in general, and captivate to scholars, instructors, chess enthusiasts, puzzle devotees, and to those intervening in amusing and recreational mathematics. --Francisco Jose Cano Sevilla, European Mathematical Society