Suppose a standard 8x8 chessboard has two diagonally opposite corners removed, leaving 62 squares. Is it possible to place 31 dominoes of size 2x1 so as to cover all of these squares?
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The puzzle is impossible to complete. A domino placed on the chessboard will always cover one white square and one black square. Therefore a collection of dominoes placed on the board will cover an equal numbers of squares of each colour. If the two white corners are removed from the board then 3 0 white squares and 3 2 black squares remain to be covered by dominoes, so this is impossible. If the two black corners are removed instead, then 3 2 white squares and 3 0 black squares remain, so it is again impossible.