When rooks miss: probability through chess

DOI10.1080/07468342.2021.1886774MaRDI QIDQ4956261zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Steven J. Miller, Haoyu Sheng, Daniel Turek

Publication date 1 September 2021

Published in The College Mathematics Journal (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.04398

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Combinatorial probability (60C05) Limit theorems in probability theory (60F99) Probability theory (educational aspects) (97K50)

Abstract: A famous (and hard) chess problem asks what is the maximum number of safe squares possible in placing $n$ queens on an $nimesn$ board. We examine related problems from placing $n$ rooks. We prove that as $noinfty$, the probability rapidly tends to 1 that the fraction of safe squares from a random placement converges to $1/e^2$. Our interest in the problem is showing how to view the involved algebra to obtain the simple, closed form limiting fraction. In particular, we see the power of many of the key concepts in probability: binary indicator variables, linearity of expectation, variances and covariances, Chebyshev's inequality, and Stirling's formula.

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Cited in

(1)

• A random minimax

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