One legal jump to finish
Identify a legal orthogonal jump: occupied source, occupied middle, empty landing. Finish with one peg.
PRACTICE COLLECTION
Peg Solitaire — Foundations: read the board before moving
Four studies in legal moves and their immediate effects. Make a prediction, test it, and compare the starting-position answer.
Print these four studies with answers
Use a prediction, a test and a reason
- Read the task before opening the answer. Say where a move lands or what it changes.
- Test it on the playable board. In two-player studies, play both sides to inspect a reply.
- Undo and compare one alternative. Use the answer’s stated search limit when explaining the result.
- Repeat the decision on paper, where the move cannot be checked for you automatically.
These are teaching groups, not a player-tested difficulty ladder. The four board IDs match the technique examples, individual study pages and print pack.
The middle peg matters
Identify a legal orthogonal jump: occupied source, occupied middle, empty landing. Finish with one peg.
Count the work remaining
Starting with 4 pegs, how many jumps would a one-peg finish require? Find a route that actually makes all of them.
A count is not a plan
Starting with 5 pegs, how many jumps would a one-peg finish require? Find a route that actually makes all of them.
Bring the idea to a fresh round
Every classic jump removes exactly one peg, so a successful finish from N pegs uses N minus 1 jumps. That arithmetic does not prove a successful sequence exists. An available continuation is not proof of eventual solvability. Exact winning or losing claims require a complete checked sequence or exhaustive search of the stated position. The live generator uses reverse jumps to build reachable layouts, but a poor forward choice can still strand the pegs.
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