Sudoku Strategies
The Sudoku craze has certainly taken the world by storm. From Asia all the way to Europe, we have more and more people hooked by the day. There is a great number of websites full of Sudoku puzzles. Alternatively you can find them in print media that have a dedicated section for Sudoku puzzles. Due to the craze, many sites have started offering lovers of the game free advice on how to solve the puzzles.
In order to master your craft and become a pro at solving Sudoku puzzles, you cannot overlook these three things; patience, focus and discipline. Combining these with a few strategies learned from online sites, you will soon be a Sudoku connoisseur.
The puzzle is made up by nine 3 x 3 grids, that in turn make up a larger 9 x 9 grid, where some numbers are provided. The aim is to fill in the missing digits in the smaller 3 x 3 grids with digits from 1 to 9. A digit should not appear twice on any of the 3 x 3 grids, or in any of the columns or rows in the 9 x 9 grid.
In trying to solve these puzzles, there are two major techniques commonly used, and both are proven to be very effective. These techniques are penciling and cross hatching. We shall look at how these two methods apply and how they can help you solve your Sudoku puzzles much faster.
The penciling strategy is whereby all probable cell candidates are noted down on the empty cells and then cross out all the numbers that appear along either the row or column. This would leave you with one number that should be filled out in the cell.
In the cross hatching strategy, you get to deal with the 3×3 grids, also known as nonets, one after the other. You will try to fill out the empty cells by cross checking the rows and columns to see if a number can be fit into a cell or not. When you are done with the first nonet you move on to the next, until you finish the whole board.
Armed with these strategies, and practicing your skill by solving at least one Sudoku puzzle a day, will have you solving the hardest of Sudoku puzzles quite easily.