Sudoku has a long thousand year history
winding through ancient cultures, it's origins probably beginning with the Chinese, it was documented by the Arabs in the ninth century. In 990 a list of 'Magic Squares' not dissimilar to Sudoku appeared in The Encyclopedia produced by Arab scholars known as the Ikhwan al-safa, they called it wafq.

The squares were made into charms believed to ease childbirth and became known as the buduh square. The charms became so popular that Islamic writers began to form more complex combinations of numbers where no numeral was repeated.

Buduh squares were introduced to Europe by a Hispanic Jewish philosopher and astrologer called Abraham Ben ibn Ezra. He travelled through Spain, Italy and other parts of Europe showing people Magic Squares.

 

 

The idea of creating boundaries for the squares (making it into a game) was documented in 1225 by Ahmed al-Buni, although this method was believed to have Persian origins.

The evolution of Sudoku took a new step in 1776 when a Swiss mathematician and physicist Leonhard Euler began to study and develop rules for what we now know as Sudoku.

 

 

 

 

In 1901 a French mathematician continued this work and by 1959 two American's named Bose and Shrikhande.

Through its long and patient journey, Sudoku was first published in the late 1970's in puzzle magazine in New York. The magazine took magic squares and limited them to a 9x9 grid made up of 3x3 boxes. And so, Sudoku was born.

In 1986 a japanese publisher, Nikoli, discovered the puzzle whilst on a business trip to the USA and became hooked. They named it SuDoku (Su = number, Doku=single, unmarried) and it quickly became the most popular puzzle game in Japan.

The addiction of Sudoku was 'contained' in Japan for over twenty years until a retired Hong Kong judge called Wayne Gould, originally from New Zealand, stumbled across a copy in a Japanese bookshop. He too became addicted by the ancient puzzle.

By 2004 his addiction took him to London and during an impromtu visit to the offices of The Times Newspaper he persuaded the editor to publish a Sudoku next to its' crossword puzzle. Readers were addicted and demanded more. Within weeks newspapers all over England were publishing Sudoku puzzles. Since then Sudoku spread to the USA, Canada, Australia, France, South Africa and many other countries.

 

Sudoku is the fastest growing puzzle in the world. It has millions of addicted followers, celebrity supporters, a world-championship. Governments are recommending Sudoku for brain exercises and its ability to slow the progression of Alzheimer's.

After over a thousand years in development, Sudoku Vietnam is here. With Thang Bom as your guide, play Sudoku here online for free, play on your mobile phone, play in our magazines and join in the events in your local area. Like Thang Bom and Sudoku, be patient, be smart and don't rush to find the answers. The best things come to those who wait.

With thanks to Maths.org