knight-probability-in-chessboard.py

# Time:  O(k * n^2)
# Space: O(n^2)
  
# On an NxN chessboard, a knight starts at the r-th row and c-th column and
# attempts to make exactly K moves. The rows and columns are 0 indexed,
# so the top-left square is (0, 0), and the bottom-right square is (N-1, N-1).
#
# A chess knight has 8 possible moves it can make, as illustrated below.
# Each move is two squares in a cardinal direction, then one square in an orthogonal direction.
#
# Each time the knight is to move, it chooses one of eight possible moves uniformly
# at random (even if the piece would go off the chessboard) and moves there.
#
# The knight continues moving until it has made exactly K moves or has moved off the chessboard.
# Return the probability that the knight remains on the board after it has stopped moving.
#
# Example:
# Input: 3, 2, 0, 0
# Output: 0.0625
#   
# Explanation: There are two moves (to (1,2), (2,1)) that will keep the knight on the board.
# From each of those positions, there are also two moves that will keep the knight on the board.
# The total probability the knight stays on the board is 0.0625.
#
# Note:
# N will be between 1 and 25.
# K will be between 0 and 100.
# The knight always initially starts on the board.

class Solution(object):
    def knightProbability(self, N, K, r, c):
        """
        :type N: int
        :type K: int
        :type r: int
        :type c: int
        :rtype: float
        """
        directions = \
            [[ 1, 2], [ 1, -2], [ 2, 1], [ 2, -1], \
             [-1, 2], [-1, -2], [-2, 1], [-2, -1]];
        dp = [[[1 for _ in xrange(N)] for _ in xrange(N)] for _ in xrange(2)]
        for step in xrange(1, K+1):
            for i in xrange(N):
                for j in xrange(N):
                    dp[step%2][i][j] = 0
                    for direction in directions:
                        rr, cc = i+direction[0], j+direction[1]
                        if 0 <= cc < N and 0 <= rr < N:
                            dp[step%2][i][j] += 0.125 * dp[(step-1)%2][rr][cc];

        return dp[K%2][r][c]