Techniques to Solve Sudoku
Sudoku is a logic-based numbers puzzle involving a grid nine squares wide by nine squares high with nine 3X3 sub-grids where the objective is to place numbers 1 through 9 so that none of the numbers repeat in any particular grid, column or sub-grid. Sudoku dates back to an 18th Century Swiss mathematician, Leonhard Euler who created the concept. It wouldn't become a popular phenomenon until 1984 in Japan where it had been given the name Sudoku loosely meaning "the numbers must be single."
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Scanning Technique
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The most common, and often first, step in solving Sudoku is scanning the grids and sub-grids. Some simpler puzzles only have one or two empty boxes in a particular row, column or grid. Finding these allows a player to fill in some of the boxes.
Single Position Technique
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By comparing columns and rows, some known numbers will appear in certain grid positions making these numbers not an option in these columns and rows. This method requires some logic with the process of elimination. By using this technique, it should become apparent to the player that there are some positions where numbers couldn't appear.
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Pencil Marks Technique
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Pencil marks can become the most useful technique when solving Sudoku.
By eliminating all numbers that shouldn't appear in a particular empty box, use small penciled in numbers to place the remaining possibilities. This will reveal other number positions that wouldn't be readily obvious. By employing this technique and some logic, most Sudoku puzzles can be solved.
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References
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