I came across the same problem. Everything runs smoothly till n=7 and suddenly it takes forever to calculate for n=8.

The problem lies with the order in which you are checking for the moves. You are using :

xMove[8] = { -2, -2, 2, 2, -1, -1, 1, 1}

yMove[8] = { -1, 1, -1, 1, -2, 2, -2, 2}

If you plot these vectors in the 2D plane, they are haphazardly placed. In other words, they are not ordered in either a clockwise or an anti-clockwise manner. However if you use this instead :

xMove[8] = { 2, 1, -1, -2, -2, -1, 1, 2 }

yMove[8] = { 1, 2, 2, 1, -1, -2, -2, -1 }

If you plot these vectors, they are neatly arranged in an anticlockwise circle. Somehow this causes the recursion to run much quickly for large values of n. Mind you, it still takes forever to calculate for n=9 onwards.

I came across the same problem. Everything runs smoothly till n=7 and suddenly it takes forever to calculate for n=8.

The problem lies with the order in which you are checking for the moves. You are using :

xMove[8] = { -2, -2, 2, 2, -1, -1, 1, 1}

yMove[8] = { -1, 1, -1, 1, -2, 2, -2, 2}

If you plot these vectors in the 2D plane, they are haphazardly placed. In other words, they are not ordered in either a clockwise or an anti-clockwise manner. However, by using this instead :

xMove[8] = { 2, 1, -1, -2, -2, -1, 1, 2 }

yMove[8] = { 1, 2, 2, 1, -1, -2, -2, -1 }

If you plot these vectors, they are neatly arranged in an anticlockwise circle. Somehow this causes the recursion to run much quickly for large values of n. Mind you, it still takes forever to calculate for n=9 onwards.