Solution for N Queens Problem using Backtracking in C

What is N Queens Problem?

The N Queens problem is:

How can N queens be placed on an NxN chessboard so that no two of them attack each other?

The eight queens puzzle is the problem of placing eight chess queens on an n x n chessboard so that no two queens threaten each other.

Thus, a solution requires that no two queens share the same row, column, or diagonal. The eight queens puzzle is an example of the more general n queens problem of placing n non-attacking queens on an n×n chessboard, for which solutions exist for all natural numbers n with the exception of n=2 and n=3.

A possible solution for N Queens problem is:

 

Algorithm:

• Place the queens col­umn wise, start from the left most column
• If all queens are placed:
  return true and print the solu­tion matrix.
  Else
  Try all the rows in the cur­rent column.
• Check if queen can be placed here safely if yes mark the cur­rent cell in solu­tion matrix as 1 and try to solve the rest of the prob­lem recursively.
• If plac­ing the queen in above step leads to the solu­tion return true.
• If plac­ing the queen in above step does not lead to the solu­tion , BACKTRACK, mark the cur­rent cell in solu­tion matrix as 0 and return false.
• If all the rows are tried and noth­ing worked, return false and print NO SOLUTION.

 

C program for N Queens problem using Backtracking:

#include<stdio.h>
#include<math.h>
int board[20],count;
int main()
{
 int n,i,j;
 void queen(int row,int n);
 printf(" - N Queens Problem Using Backtracking -");
 printf("\n\nEnter number of Queens:");
 scanf("%d",&n);
 queen(1,n);
 return 0;
}
//function for printing the solution
void print(int n)
{
 int i,j;
 printf("\n\nSolution %d:\n\n",++count);
 for(i=1;i<=n;++i)
  printf("\t%d",i);
 for(i=1;i<=n;++i)
 {
  printf("\n\n%d",i);
  for(j=1;j<=n;++j) //for nxn board
  {
   if(board[i]==j)
    printf("\tQ"); //queen at i,j position
   else
    printf("\t-"); //empty slot
  }
 }
}
/*funtion to check conflicts
If no conflict for desired postion returns 1 otherwise returns 0*/
int place(int row,int column)
{
 int i;
 for(i=1;i<=row-1;++i)
 {
  //checking column and digonal conflicts
  if(board[i]==column)
   return 0;
  else
   if(abs(board[i]-column)==abs(i-row))
    return 0;
 }
 return 1; //no conflicts
}
//function to check for proper positioning of queen
void queen(int row,int n)
{
 int column;
 for(column=1;column<=n;++column)
 {
  if(place(row,column))
  {
   board[row]=column; //no conflicts so place queen
   if(row==n) //dead end
    print(n); //printing the board configuration
   else //try queen with next position
    queen(row+1,n);
  }
 }
}

 

OUTPUT:

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