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?

"15" is not a solution. It may be an answer, but you can't very well claim it to be a solution without explaining how you got that number. (the same goes for "8")

Posted by levik on 2002-05-01 08:10:05