A standard 8 x 8 wooden chessboard has a straight line scratch in its surface, and is taken in for repair. The artisan who it is brought to decides to cover each affected square with a thin wooden veneer of the appropriate color.

Assuming that a different veneer is needed for each square of the board, what is the maximum number of such veneers that the artisan will require to do the job?

When I said "one to cover the whole thing", I meant, "one to cover the whole scratched part"...not the whole board.

Posted by FingLao on 2002-05-22 13:54:47