Problem

Source: Argentina Cono Sur TST 2024 P5

Tags: combinatorics



In chess, a knight placed on a chess board can move by jumping to an adjacent square in one direction (up, down, left, or right) then jumping to the next two squares in a perpendicular direction. We then say that a square in a chess board can be attacked by a knight if the knight can end up on that square after a move. Thus, depending on where a knight is placed, it can attack as many as eight squares, or maybe even less. In a $10 \times 10$ chess board, what is the maximum number of knights that can be placed such that each square on the board can be attacked by at most one knight?