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Old 11-15-2007, 03:57 PM
tshort tshort is offline
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 1,143
Default Re: Seating Arrangement Problem

Schostic generation of 8 x 8 latin squares would be a "fair" method of determining seating.

Latin squares are n x n tables with n symbols such that no column or row repeates a symbol. So, they would satisify your criteria of each person starting in each position relative to the button. Any given 8 x 8 latin square wouldn't guarantee fairness in relative position to other players. Randomly generating the latin squares would be a fair method of seating (although it could no longer be "fair" after the it is determined). Building in constraints to the random generation could further guarantee fairness.
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