Fore and Aft Puzzle

Alternate Names

Sixteen Men Puzzle, Sixteen Puzzle, Sixteen Men Solitaire, English Sixteen Puzzle, Interchange

No. of Players

One

Equipment

A Fore and Aft board, which is simple enough to be easily drawn, and eight each of black and white counters are required for play.

History

The 1914 Book Sam Loyd's Cyclopedia of 5000 Puzzles, Tricks, and Conundrums by Sam Loyd is probably the first written record of this puzzle. It claims it to be the invention of an English, probably 19th century, sailor.

Objective

The objective is always to move all counters of one color from one side of the board to the other. The objective can be made more complex by attempting to do this in a minimum number of moves, ultimately finding the minimum number of moves that are required to complete the puzzle. The game is lost if no more legal moves are available before the puzzle is completed.

Play

Eight each of black and white counters are positioned on the board as above. Any specific counter moves in one direction only. The counters starting at the right side of the board always move to the left and vice versa. A counter may move, in its direction, to an adjacent empty cell or jump a counter of either color to land at the necessarily vacant immediate next cell (Short Jump).

Strategy

Notate the board sequentially from left to right and top to bottom, e.g. the middle intersection is numbered nine. From the opening position, the moves to solve the puzzle are: 10-9, 8-10, 7-8, 9-7, 12-9, 6-12, 3-6, 9-3, 15-9, 16-15, 10-16, 8-10, 9-8, 11-9, 14-11, 12-14, 6-12, 5-6, 8-5, 2-8, 1-2, 7-1, 9-7, 11-9, 17-11, 16-17, 10-16, 13-10, 12-13, 6-12, 4-6, 7-4, 9-7, 10-9, 8-10, 2-8, 3-2, 9-3, 15-9, 12-15, 6-12, 9-6, 11-9, 10-11, 8-10, 9-8

Sources

1. Sam Loyd's Cyclopedia of 5000 Puzzles, Tricks, and Conundrums. Sam Loyd. 1914.