MathDB
Math Prize 2017 Problem 15

Source:

September 27, 2017
Math Prize for Girls

Problem Statement

A restricted rook (RR) is a fictional chess piece that can move horizontally or vertically (like a rook), except that each move is restricted to a neighboring square (cell). If RR can only (with at most one exception) move up and to the right, how many possible distinct paths are there to move RR from the bottom left square to the top right square of a standard 8-by-8 chess board? Note that RR may visit some squares more than once. A path is the sequence of squares visited by RR on its way.