Forcing Chain sudoku technique

Expert level Appears in puzzles rated SE 3.8 – 5.0

A forcing chain starts at a cell with two candidates and plays out both futures. Assume the first digit and follow the implications from link to link; then return and do the same for the second. Wherever the two branches agree — some cell ends up with the same value either way, or some candidate dies in both — that agreement is a fact, because one of the two starting assumptions must be true.

How to find a forcing chain

  1. Start from a bi-value cell, ideally one wired into several pairs nearby.
  2. Branch one: assume the first candidate and write down each forced consequence in order.
  3. Branch two: assume the other candidate and trace it with the same care.
  4. Compare the branches and keep every outcome they share. That is your deduction.
From the table: Short chains are trustworthy chains. Three or four links you can verify beat ten links with a slip in the middle — and in a timed match, an error costs far more than the seconds saved. Grow the chain length as the habit hardens.

The pattern on the grid

2557227

Both values of the pivot r4c4 (blue) force r7c4 to 7 — the 2 pencilled there (red) cannot survive either branch.

Worked example

Start at r4c4 holding 2-5. Branch one: r4c4=2 removes 2 from r7c4, whose 2-7 collapses to 7. Branch two: r4c4=5 forces r4c7 (5-7) to 7, which strips the 7 from r7c7 (2-7), making it 2 — and that 2 again clears r7c4 down to 7. Both roads end with r7c4=7, so 7 it is, no matter which way the pivot falls.

When it fails

One transcription slip anywhere in a branch poisons every conclusion after it. Write the links down (r4c4=2 → r7c4≠2 → r7c4=7) rather than holding them in your head — chains fail in memory, not in logic.

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