Question : The two losing masters wanted a riposte, so the grand master showed them 5 hats, two white and three black. Then he said: “I will turn off the light and put a hat on each of your heads and hide the other hats. When I turn on the light you will have equal chances to win. Each of you will see the hats of the two others, however not his own. The first one saying the colour of his hat will win.” Then before he could turn off the light, one of the masters (the same one again) guessed, what the colour of his hat will be.
What hat was it and how did he know?
Answer : The important thing in this riddle is that all masters had equal chances to win. If one of them had been given a black hat and the other white hats, the one with black hat would immediately have known his color (unlike the others). So 1 black and 2 white hats is not a fair distribution.
If there had been one white and two black hats distributed, then the two with black hats would have had advantage. They would have been able to see one black and one white hat and supposing they had been given white hat, then the one with black hat must at once react as in the previous situation. However, if he had remained silent, then the guys with black hats would have known that they wear black hats, whereas the one with white hat would have been forced to eternal thinking with no clear answer. So neither this is a fair situation.
That’s why the only way of giving each master an equal chance is to distribute hats of one color – so 3 black hats.
I hope this is clear enough.