Worked solution

Peg solitaire solution

Below is a complete solution to the standard 33-hole English board, starting from the usual position — every hole filled except the centre. It takes 31 jumps and finishes with a single peg on d4, the centre hole.

Press play to watch it, or step one jump at a time. Selecting any row in the move list jumps the board straight to that position.

SOLUTION

MOVE 0 OF 31 · 32 PEGS

The move list

Moves are written as the peg’s starting hole and the hole it lands in; the peg removed is always the one between them. Columns run a–g from the left, rows 1–7 from the top, so the centre is d4.

A 31-move peg solitaire solution
#	Move	Removes	Pegs left
1	d2 → d4	d3	31
2	b3 → d3	c3	30
3	c1 → c3	c2	29
4	e1 → c1	d1	28
5	b5 → b3	b4	27
6	e3 → e1	e2	26
7	g3 → e3	f3	25
8	f5 → f3	f4	24
9	g5 → g3	g4	23
10	c4 → c2	c3	22
11	c1 → c3	c2	21
12	c6 → c4	c5	20
13	c4 → c2	c3	19
14	a3 → c3	b3	18
15	a5 → a3	a4	17
16	e4 → e2	e3	16
17	e1 → e3	e2	15
18	d3 → b3	c3	14
19	a3 → c3	b3	13
20	c2 → c4	c3	12
21	c4 → e4	d4	11
22	e4 → e2	e3	10
23	g3 → e3	f3	9
24	e2 → e4	e3	8
25	d5 → f5	e5	7
26	e7 → e5	e6	6
27	c7 → e7	d7	5
28	e4 → e6	e5	4
29	e7 → e5	e6	3
30	f5 → d5	e5	2
31	d6 → d4	d5	1

Why every solution is exactly 31 moves

The board starts with 32 pegs, and every legal jump removes precisely one peg. Reaching a single peg therefore takes 32 − 1 = 31 jumps, whichever route you take. There is no shorter solution and no longer one; when players talk about a “shorter” peg solitaire solution they mean fewer sweeps — runs where one peg makes several jumps in a row — which is a different count. The record for the English board is 18 such sweeps.

Try it yourself first

Reading a solution is not the same as finding one. If you want the satisfaction, the board on the front page has a hint button that suggests a move that keeps a winning line open, and unlimited undo when it does not go to plan.

Play peg solitaire →

Play it on iPhone and iPad Monolume — the same board, offline. One purchase, no ads, no tracking.