Jeff Keow?s One-Stop Solution

By Allan Koay

He didn’t even know what it was when he first laid eyes on it. It was an unusual nine-by-nine box of numbers. But now, he has written a book on how to solve the puzzle. Jeff Keow?s book, Think Out of the Block with Sudoku, offers the tools, techniques, strategies and processes for solving sudoku puzzles. Sudoku puzzles have been the latest craze around the world, and many people will attest to being infuriated, frustrated and befuddled by the number puzzle, created by American Howard Garns and which became a hit in Japan in the early 1980s.

Now Jeff Keow has claimed to have created a formula that is also a one-stop solution for every type of published sudoku puzzle. Keow, who is the chief executive and principal consultant of his own management training and consultancy company, admitted that he did not know what a sudoku puzzle was when he first saw it on his wife?s computer in December 2005, but once he got into it, he became addicted to the game. Now, a year later, he has published a book, Think Out of the Block with Sudoku , which he calls a ?sudoku handbook and manual.? His formula is named the ?KHS Formula 3 Plus 2.? In the book, Keow offers the tools, techniques, strategies and processes for solving sudoku puzzles, with step-by-step worked examples.

Keow said he initially researched sudoku on the Internet, and got the hang of the rules of the game and the solution tips. It looked simple enough. With what he thought were solid tips and strategies, he tried his hand at The Star ?s sudoku puzzles. Inevitably, he got stuck at some of the puzzles and didn?t know what to do. He realised that by relying on those tips and strategies, he could only go so far. The only way left to go was to take guesses. But he thought the solution must be obtained by logical means. ?I searched high and low for all the tools and techniques,? said Keow. ?There are all sorts of funny systems but I couldn?t make head or tail of them. And the tips available don?t tell you very much. From my knowledge and experience, I knew that I needed analytical tools and techniques to solve the puzzles. And that?s how it started for me.? He said he sometimes spent an entire day, starting at 5am and finishing at 2am, working on finding the formula to solve the puzzles. He said after he had worked out much of the formula, he found that there was still a missing element, and it wasn?t until he came across an extremely difficult puzzle that took him months to solve, that he managed to complete the formula.

The fundamentals of the book were completed in June 2006. It took him another six months to correct, enhance and fine-tune the book, leading to rewrites, rediscoveries, additions and omissions. ?I wanted to make sure that the technology was correct and sound, and capable of solving any sudoku puzzle published so far,? Keow explained. ?I tested it out by solving all the sudoku puzzles that I could lay my hands on. I found that I could solve them within 25 minutes without difficulty. When you have practised, you will be able to recognise the various patterns and strategies.? But he said one must practise in order to absorb and understand the technology, and then develop the expertise in applying it. ?I want to caution here that there are many different sudoku puzzles and each puzzle requires a different approach and a different mindset,? said Keow. ?It is a very fascinating exercise.? But doesn?t a one-stop solution take away all the fun of trying to solve a puzzle? ?The fun is from a different perspective,? said Keow. ?It is in solving the difficult puzzles in a short period of time, and in managing to unlock the secret of the puzzle. And it?s also in being able to solve the puzzles in shorter and shorter periods of time.? Keow has a background in mathematical sciences, and had taught Mathematics and Physics at Johor English College and the former Mara Institute of Technology. He said those at the intermediate level of sudoku-solving would find the book most useful, but anyone at any level can also use the book.

Asked how his book is different from all the other books available that also claim to provide solutions to sudoku, Keow replied: ?From my knowledge, they provide tips but do not give fully worked out examples from beginning to end. They do not provide a conceptual framework and tools and techniques that you can apply every time. We?re talking about sudoku technology and knowledge, and this is what this book hypothesises.? He said he believes that there is more to sudoku than just a game, as it requires critical and creative thinking, logical reasoning, and other mental skills essential to everyday life. ?If a person is able to solve any type of sudoku puzzle using the tools and techniques in the book, that person would have acquired a level of thinking ability that will facilitate the acquisition of knowledge in any discipline,? he said. Think Out of the Block with Sudoku is now available in Malaysia and Singapore, and Keow plans to get it published internationally.