Math problem chess board tale

Answer 1

This may be a reference to the old tale of the "clever" individual who challenged the ruler of an ancient land to a Chess match. There are variations on the theme, but this is it.

A man challenged a ruler to a chess match. The ruler asked the man about a wager, and the man said he'd bet his life against some grain. The "catch" was that the amount of grain the ruler would have to give the man if he won was one grain on the first square of the board, 2 grains on the second square of the board, 4 grains on the third square of the board, 8 grains on the fourth square of the board and so on. You can see what's coming. But the ruler could not.

The ruler agreed, the match was played, and the man won. The ruler ordered the man to be paid, but when one of the ruler's advisors was called in to help settle up, this advisor informed the ruler that they didn't have the grain to pay the man. The ruler would have to have ponied up 263 grains plus 1 to honor the bet.

An approximation of 263 grains is 9.223372 x 1018 grains. Or 9, 223, 372, 000, 000, 000, 001 grains of rice.