If current cell is ' X ' , then check whether this is top - leftmost of a rectangle . If yes , then increment count
if ( mat [ i ] [ j ] == ' X ' ) { if ( ( i == 0 mat [ i - 1 ] [ j ] == ' O ' ) && ( j == 0 mat [ i ] [ j - 1 ] == ' O ' ) ) count ++ ; } } } return count ; }