recursion - Recursive backtracking knights tour in c ++ -

so, in short i'm working on knight's tour program. if don't know is, knight gets put on chess board , have move every spot on board once. i'm using recursive function having trouble getting backtracking work. can 22 steps in 5x5 board program won't , try different path. i'm posting recursive part of code (sorry it's little long) insight extremely helpful. lot!

`bool findpath ( int board[][boardsize + 4], int &currrow, int &currcol, int &currmove,int boardsize ) {     int i, j;     bool foundspot;      board[currrow][currcol] = currmove;      if ( currmove == boardsize * boardsize )         return true;      ( = 0; < boardsize + 4; i++ )     {         ( j = 0; j < boardsize + 4; j++ )             cout << setw (3) << board[i][j];         cout<<endl;     }     cout << endl;      if ( board[currrow - 2][currcol - 1] == 0 )     {         currmove += 1;         board[currrow - 2][currcol - 1] = currmove;         currrow -= 2;         currcol -= 1;         if ( findpath( board, currrow, currcol, currmove, boardsize ) )             return true;     }      if ( board[currrow - 2][currcol + 1] == 0 )     {         currmove += 1;         board[currrow - 2][currcol + 1] = currmove ;         currrow -= 2;         currcol += 1;         if ( findpath( board, currrow, currcol, currmove, boardsize ) )             return true;     }      if ( board[currrow - 1][currcol + 2] == 0 )     {         currmove += 1;         board[currrow - 1][currcol + 2] = currmove ;         currrow -= 1;         currcol += 2;         if ( findpath( board, currrow, currcol, currmove, boardsize ) )             return true;     }      if ( board[currrow + 1][currcol + 2] == 0 )     {                currmove += 1;         board[currrow + 1][currcol + 2] = currmove ;         currrow += 1;         currcol += 2;         if ( findpath( board, currrow, currcol, currmove, boardsize ) )             return true;     }      if ( board[currrow + 2][currcol + 1] == 0 )     {         currmove += 1;         board[currrow + 2][currcol + 1] = currmove ;         currrow += 2;         currcol += 1;         if ( findpath( board, currrow, currcol, currmove, boardsize ) )             return true;     }      if ( board[currrow + 2][currcol - 1] == 0 )     {         currmove += 1;         board[currrow + 2][currcol - 1] = currmove ;         currrow += 2;         currcol -= 1;         if ( findpath( board, currrow, currcol, currmove, boardsize ) )             return true;     }      if ( board[currrow + 1][currcol - 2] == 0 )     {                currmove += 1;         board[currrow + 1][currcol - 2] = currmove ;         currrow += 1;         currcol -= 2;         if ( findpath( board, currrow, currcol, currmove, boardsize ) )             return true;     }      if ( board[currrow - 1][currcol - 2] == 0 )     {                currmove += 1;         board[currrow - 1][currcol - 2] = currmove ;                 currrow -= 1;         currcol -= 2;         if ( findpath( board, currrow, currcol, currmove, boardsize ) )             return true;     }     board[currrow][currcol] = 0;     currmove -= 2;     return false; }` 

i worked out following implementation of knights tour in c++ :

#include<cstdio> #include<iostream> #define max 10  using namespace std; int tour=1; int board[max][max];  bool is_travelled(int,int); bool knights_tour(int,int,int,int); void initialize(int); void display(int);  int main(int argc,char** argv){     int n;     scanf("%d",&n);     for(int i=0;i<10;i++){         for(int j=0;j<10;j++){             board[i][j]=-1;         }     }     initialize(n);     display(n);     return 0; }  bool is_travelled(int x,int y){     if(x<0 || y<0)return true;     if(board[x][y]==-1)return false;     return true; }  bool knights_tour(int i,int j,int n,int k){ // k=number of places remained , n=side of chess_board;     int x,y;     if(k==0)return true;     // hard-coded cases;     // reordering of cases have significant effect on execution time     x=i+2;y=j+1;     if((!is_travelled(x,y))&&x<n&&y<n){         board[x][y]=tour;         tour+=1;         if(knights_tour(x,y,n,k-1))return true;         board[x][y]=-1;         tour-=1;     }     x=i+1;y=j+2;     if((!is_travelled(x,y))&&x<n&&y<n){         board[x][y]=tour;         tour+=1;         if(knights_tour(x,y,n,k-1))return true;         board[x][y]=-1;         tour-=1;     }     x=i-1;y=j+2;     if((!is_travelled(x,y))&&x<n&&y<n){         board[x][y]=tour;         tour+=1;         if(knights_tour(x,y,n,k-1))return true;         board[x][y]=-1;         tour-=1;     }     x=i-2;y=j+1;     if((!is_travelled(x,y))&&x<n&&y<n){         board[x][y]=tour;         tour+=1;         if(knights_tour(x,y,n,k-1))return true;         board[x][y]=-1;         tour-=1;     }     x=i-2;y=j-1;     if((!is_travelled(x,y))&&x<n&&y<n){         board[x][y]=tour;         tour+=1;         if(knights_tour(x,y,n,k-1))return true;         board[x][y]=-1;         tour-=1;     }     x=i-1;y=j-2;     if((!is_travelled(x,y))&&x<n&&y<n){         board[x][y]=tour;         tour+=1;         if(knights_tour(x,y,n,k-1))return true;         board[x][y]=-1;         tour-=1;     }     x=i+1;y=j-2;     if((!is_travelled(x,y))&&x+y<n&&x<n&&y<n){         board[x][y]=tour;         tour+=1;         if(knights_tour(x,y,n,k-1))return true;         board[x][y]=-1;         tour-=1;     }     x=i+2;y=j-1;     if((!is_travelled(x,y))&&x<n&&y<n){         board[x][y]=tour;         tour+=1;         if(knights_tour(x,y,n,k-1))return true;         board[x][y]=-1;         tour-=1;     }     return false; } void initialize(int n){     for(int i=0;i<n;i++){         for(int j=0;j<n;j++){             board[i][j]=0;             int r=knights_tour(i,j,n,n*n-1);             if(r==1)return;             board[i][j]=-1;         }     } }  void display(int n){     for(int i=0;i<n;i++){         for(int j=0;j<n;j++){             printf("%2d ",board[i][j]);         }         printf("\n");     }     cout<<endl; } 

hope helps . happy coding !