Can you solve it? Are you smarter than a maths jammer?

Alex gets sucked into the chessboard problem. Can you help him get out of it? Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Hello guzzlers,

Today we’re jammin’. Maths jammin’.

Our MC is Colin Wright, organiser of the annual MathsJam conference. (More on this wonderful event below.)

One of Colin’s interests is other puzzles. That is, other versions of classic puzzles.

You may be familiar with the mutilated chessboard puzzle. Today Colin challenges you to the other mutilated chessboard puzzle.

Firstly, the classic. Imagine you have a chessboard and 32 dominoes. Each domino is exactly the size of two adjacent squares on the board, which means there is a way of placing the 32 dominoes so that they cover all 64 of the chessboard squares.

Now mutilate the chessboard by cutting off two squares at diagonally opposite corners of the board, as below, and lose one of the dominoes.

Is it possible to place the 31 dominoes on the board so that all the remaining 62 squares are covered? Show how it can be done, or prove it impossible.

Can you cover the board with dominoes?

Now for Colin’s other puzzle. This time you must mutilate the chessboard by cutting out any two squares, one of each colour.

The same question applies. Is it possible to place the 31 dominoes on the board so that all the remaining 62 squares are covered? Show how it can be done, or prove it impossible.

Here is a video explanation of the puzzle. This might help a bit:

The mutilated chessboard? See the classic and and other ways to set the problem.

I’ll post the solutions later today. UPDATE: Solutions now posted here

Colin Wright: juggler and jammer.

MathsJam is a global movement of recreational mathematicians founded in 2008 by standup mathematician Matt Parker. MathsJam monthly gatherings - held on the second last Tuesday of the month - are an excuse for mathsy folk to share stuff they like. They take place in pubs everywhere from Aberdeen to Winnipeg via Brisbane, Kolkata and Leeds.

Colin Wright organises the MathsJam annual conference. It is taking place on the weekend of 7-8 November in Staffordshire, and there are still spaces available.

Colin is also one of the UK’s most brilliant maths communicators, best known for his signature talk about the maths of juggling. Check out his website and book him!

I post a puzzle here on a Monday every two weeks. If you like this sort of thing check out my other Guardian blog Adventures in Numberland. You can also check me out on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and my personal website.

If you like colouring for relaxation you might enjoy my latest book, Snowflake Seashell Star: Colouring Adventures in Numberland, which is out now.

And if know of any great puzzles that you would like me to set here, get in touch.