Teaching LinkedIn Queens #793: start with region scans on this 8×8 board. 8 regions, sizes 2–29. Walk students through 8 placements ending at R1C8, R2C2, R3C4, R4C7, R5C5, R6C3, R7C6, R8C1.
Board spotlight: Several color regions span only a few cells — scan those regions first because they often force a queen into a single row or column. Region sizes range from 2 to 29 cells — smaller regions often pin a queen to a single row intersection.
Lesson step 1: show why R1C8 is forced. Row 1, column 8 is the forced queen once region 1, row, column, and touch rules are applied together. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 2: show why R2C2 is forced. Row 2, column 2 is the forced queen once region 2, row, column, and touch rules are applied together. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 3: show why R3C4 is forced. Row 3, column 4 is the forced queen once region 4, row, column, and touch rules are applied together. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 4: show why R4C7 is forced. Column 7 is the only column still available for a queen in row 4. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 5: show why R5C5 is forced. Row 5, column 5 is the forced queen once region 5, row, column, and touch rules are applied together. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 6: show why R6C3 is forced. After eliminations, row 6 has one legal square left — column 3. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 7: show why R7C6 is forced. Region 8 only touches row 7 once on this board, so its queen must land at column 6. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 8: show why R8C1 is forced. After eliminations, row 8 has one legal square left — column 1. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Recap: 8 queens, 8 regions, one solution path. Replay using region-first scanning.