Tower of Hanoi - Chedi

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If you're a puzzle collector or simply like to play with mechanical puzzles you've probably seen one of the many versions of a Tower of Hanoi. A classic mathematical puzzle first introduced in the west in the 19th century, but believed to have much older roots. The version you see here, in a chedi style, is one the best looking I've seen in a while.

This gorgeous version is perhaps inspired by the legend of the Tower of Hanoi origin, which locates it from an Indian temple in Kashi Vishwanath. The puzzle is a representation of a 7-tier pagoda, very well built in hardwood and quite large, which is very nice for a beautiful puzzle like this. The closed box dimensions are 24 x 9 x 6cm (9.5" x 3.5" x 2.4"). The box is ideal to store the pieces and the lid slides open very easily. I'm not sure of the treatment this wood takes, but I got to say, it smells wonderful. You have to really experience it to know what I'm talking about.

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Included in the box are seven rings and three poles. At the bottom of the lid there are three small holes to place the poles, and you can slide the lid back again and use the box as a base to solve the puzzle. If you're familiar with the concept of the puzzle you're good to go. If not, here's the basic rules:

• You start with all seven rings at the central pole. The idea is to transfer all rings to one of the other two poles in the same order.

• You can only move one ring at a time, taking always the upper ring from one of the three poles.

• You cannot move a larger ring on top of a smaller one. It's always large to small from the bottom to the top

Depending on the number of disks or rings, the minimum number of moves will also vary. taking into account the formula 2ⁿ - 1, where n is the number of rings, we can calculate the minimum number of moves for this 7-ring version which is 127. If we were to add just one more ring to the puzzle the total number of movements would basically double to 255. With nine rings it would take 511 moves, and so on and so forth if you were to continue adding more rings.

The Tower of Hanoi is probably one of the first n-ary puzzles in the world, more specifically binary or 2-ary. There's a whole page dedicated to these puzzles by Goetz Schwandtner, which is totally worth taking a look. I should warn you that these puzzles are extremely addictive and for a collector, who aims at having a more complete and comprehensive collection, it's a bit dangerous to look at all these magnificent puzzles.

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Closing Comments:

I absolutely loved the chedi version of the Tower of Hanoi. The design and presentation of the puzzle is magnificent and it's built in high-quality wood. If you happen to already own a Tower of Hanoi in your collection, do yourself a favor and add this one to it as well. It's a beautiful collective item or simply used as a display object in your office or living room.

Availability: You can find the Tower of Hanoi - Chedi at Brilliant Puzzles for $17.95. For this puzzle, it's a bargain.