How do you solve Minimum Moves to Capture The Queen on LeetCode?

Minimum Moves to Capture The Queen (LeetCode #3001) can be solved using Brute Force or Optimal Solution. The optimal approach is Optimal Solution with O(1) time complexity and O(1) space complexity. Key insight: The rook and bishop can capture the queen in one move if there are no pieces blocking their path.

What is the time complexity of Minimum Moves to Capture The Queen?

The optimal solution for Minimum Moves to Capture The Queen runs in O(1) time and uses O(1) space. The time complexity is O(1) because we are only performing a fixed number of checks, regardless of the board size.

What is the brute force solution for Minimum Moves to Capture The Queen?

The brute force approach for Minimum Moves to Capture The Queen is Brute Force, with O(n²) time complexity and O(1) space complexity. The brute force approach checks all possible moves of the rook and bishop to see if they can capture the queen in one or two moves. It’s straightforward but can be inefficient as it doesn’t leverage any chess rules effectively. The optimal Optimal Solution approach improves this to O(1).

What algorithm or data structure is used to solve Minimum Moves to Capture The Queen?

Minimum Moves to Capture The Queen uses the following concepts: Math, Enumeration. The recommended patterns to study are: Two Pointers, Sliding Window.

What are the interview tips for Minimum Moves to Capture The Queen?

Always clarify the rules of movement for each piece before diving into the solution. Think about edge cases, such as when pieces are adjacent or when they block each other's paths. Practice visualizing the chessboard and the pieces' movements to improve your problem-solving skills.

What are common mistakes when solving Minimum Moves to Capture The Queen?

Failing to check if the path to the queen is blocked by their own pieces. Not considering both pieces' potential moves before concluding the number of moves needed.

#3001

Minimum Moves to Capture The Queen

Medium

MathEnumerationTwo PointersSliding Window

LeetCode ↗

Approaches

Brute ForceOptimal

Complexity Comparison

	Brute Force	Optimal Solution★
Time	O(n²)	O(1)
Space	O(1)	O(1)

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Intuition

Time O(1)Space O(1)

The optimal solution leverages the properties of chess pieces to determine if the rook or bishop can capture the queen in one move, or if they need to reposition first. This reduces unnecessary checks and calculations.

⚙️

Algorithm

3 steps

1Step 1: Check if the rook can capture the queen in one move (same row or column).
2Step 2: Check if the bishop can capture the queen in one move (same diagonal).
3Step 3: If neither can capture directly, check if they can move to a position that allows them to capture the queen in the next move.

solution.py6 lines

1def min_moves_to_capture(a, b, c, d, e, f):
2    if (a == e or b == f) and not ((a == e and (b < f < d or d < f < b)) or (b == f and (a < e < c or c < e < a))):
3        return 1
4    if abs(a - e) == abs(b - f) and not ((a < e < c or c < e < a) and (b < f < d or d < f < b)):
5        return 1
6    return 2

ℹ

Complexity note: The time complexity is O(1) because we are only performing a fixed number of checks, regardless of the board size.

1The rook and bishop can capture the queen in one move if there are no pieces blocking their path.
2If they cannot capture in one move, they can often reposition to capture in two moves.

Solutions and explanations are original Tejav content. Problem titles © LeetCode — use the LeetCode button above for the full problem statement.