Forcing Chains

Forcing chains is a technique that allows you to deduce with certainty the content of a cell by considering the implications resulting from the placement of each of another cell's candidates. (This technique is also known as "double-implication chains".)

For example, in the following puzzle:

8 {2,7} 6
{1,2} 3  
5 9  
4 9 5
8 7 6
     
{3,7}   1
5 9  
8 6  
4 5 3
{1,2} 6 9
7   8
1 6 8
  4  
5   9
2 7 9
{1,3} 5 8
4   6
3 4  
6 8  
9   5
6    
9 5 3
  8 4
9 8 5
  4  
6   3

 

(The numbers in curly brackets { } are the candidates for the cell.)

Consider r1c2. This has the two candidates, 2 and 7. We will consider the implications of each of these candidates in turn.

if r1c2 = 2, then r2c1 = 1, and r5c1 = 2

if r1c2 = 7, then r1c7 = 3, and r5c7 = 1, and r5c1 = 2

So whichever of the two possible values are placed into (1, 2), we've deduced that (5, 1) must hold a 2. In other words, whichever chain of cells we follow, a certain cell is forced to have a specific value.

Note: unless the puzzle has multiple solutions, one of the considered candidates must be incorrect. This means it must eventually lead to either a contradiction or a dead end. If, when considering a single candidate, you reach a dead end, or find two chains that lead to different conclusions, you can eliminate that candidate from the starting cell. This is verging on trial-and-error, this can be useful when solving manually.



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