Strategy and Problem Solving Games

Cristian Mario Galera Martínez

Information, decision, and games

University of Almería
 Scheme

[Link]……………………………………………………….pág. 3
2. The concept of winning strategy.......................page 4
3. Exploiting advantages, defining strategies. Type games
NIM.........................................................p.7

a. Towards the determination of a strategy..........page 9

[Link] 1 (two players): The 20 wins.............p. 9
[Link] 2 (two players): The 100 loses.....page 10
[Link] 3 (two players): Generalization to-
such………………………………………….….....page 10
b. A complex strategy: the game of NIM.......... page 11
[Link] 4 (two players): NIM first ver-
session... page 12
[Link] 5 (two players):Marienbad………....p. 13
c. Objectives and rules of a game: equivalent games and play-
different tastes.............................p.14

[Link] 6 (two players): Hexagonal advance

nal…………………………………………….…page 14
ii. Game 7 (two players): Place the last.....p. 15
[Link] 8(two players): The Tsyanshidzi….…page 15
[Link] 9 (two players): Save the Queen…….p.15
[Link] 10 (two players): The Daisy…..…p. 16
[Link] and pseudogames………………………...…….p.18
[Link] 11 (two players): Only odds..........p. 18
[Link] 12 (two players): Circles and squares
two…………………………………………........page 19
Bibliografía..……………………………………………....….pág.21

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1. Summary
Games can be classified in various ways, depending on the criteria that
let's use: place where it takes place, number of participants, duration of a
game, difficulty level, etc. In relation to mathematics an element
what allows to distinguish two main groups of games is the intervention or not of the
randomness, which can appear in different ways: in the initial conditions of
game or well in the execution of possible moves. For example, in the majority-
deck of cards, these are dealt randomly among the different players;
In the game of dominoes, the tiles are dealt randomly. In contrast, the si-
The initial position of a chess game is determined and is always the same.
but, just like in a game of Parcheesi, backgammon, or Othello. In
relationship with the possible plays, there are many games in which it does not intervene the
chance, since each player freely decides what move to make on each turn,
out of all the possibilities, while in others there is an intervention of chance
which is usually manifested by the rolling of one or more dice, and
only after taking this action does the player decide which of the possible plays
it will do so based on the result obtained from the dice.

Strategy games will be referred to as the set of games in which there is no inter-
chance does not come into play at any moment; only the decisions of the
players at the moment they make their moves. This absence of chance makes
that this type of games can be analyzed in order to find a way to
to win in them. In some cases it will be possible to completely determine a
winning strategy, while in others, due to the complexity of the game,
Hello, it will not be possible, even if it can be demonstrated that such a strategy exists for
some of the players. Despite the apparent diversity of this type of game-
and its solutions, the techniques and mathematical concepts used are
reduced and correspond mainly to the field of arithmetic (the systems-
more about numbering and divisibility) and geometry (situations of equilibrium-
brio, mainly symmetry).

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Dominoes is one of the games where chance only intervenes at the moment of choosing.
the tokens, the rest depends on the players' skill.

2. The concept of winning strategy

Although in the field of mathematics the word game can refer to

it affects the games themselves (those that involve more than
a player, with certain rules and with a goal that allows for decision making
who is the winner when playing a game) like in mathematical recreations,
the riddles or the puzzles, from now on the latter will be set aside
to focus attention on the games in which at least two are involved
players. It is possible to classify these games in very different ways, but
from the mathematical point of view, there is a first classification that
it allows to establish two large groups: games of complete information and games...
games with intervention of chance. We will call the first ones strategy games.
gambling seconds

When one practices a game and knows its mechanics well, one becomes
ask how to play to achieve victory in a specific game.
In pure games of chance (the game of the goose would be the paradigmatic example), the

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the previous question is absurd, since the players are limited to moving their
sheet according to the result of the die and apply the rules according to the squares
in which the record is found; that is to say, there is no possibility of making a decision
yes, so there will be no better or worse plays. The result of a game
of this type depends entirely on chance and, therefore, the analysis of the game is
nonexistent. In this sense, it can be said that the interest in the game, mathematics-
Mentally speaking, it is null.

Go is a strategy game for two players. The game focuses on defending your territory.
captures or collects the other player's pieces. Despite having simple rules, it has
a complex game strategy.

At the other end are games of complete information: in which

at any moment of the match it is possible to know all the possible moves and their
consequences (at least theoretically) and there is no place for chance. The game that
the best symbol of this idea is chess.

When analyzing one of these games, the concept of 'is-

winning strategy" that is, a set of conditions that allow one to
the players decide how it should play at each moment, taking into account the
moves made by your opponent in order to achieve victory whatever it may be
it is the play of the opponent. The existence of a winning strategy presupposes
that the game ends with the victory of one of the players, something that does not always
It occurs in those games that can end in draws, such as chess.
In this case, it should be said that there is a strategy to always win, or
to avoid losing. When a strategy game cannot end in a draw,

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it can be asserted that there is a winning strategy for the first player or
for the second one, according to the game's characteristics, although that does not mean that
It is possible to find it, as finding it depends on the complexity of the game.
Let's suppose that a game for two players has the following characteristics-
case:

It is a 'discovered' game, that is, each player has at all times

all the information to decide the move that is going to be made.
2. The two players take turns making plays, each in their
shift.
No element of chance is involved in the game.
4. Every game ends after a finite number of moves with the vic-
story of one of the two players.

Under previous conditions, it is possible to show that it must necessarily exist.

a winning strategy for one of the two players, the first (player A)
or the second (player B). Indeed, let's suppose that A does not have a strategy
winner, that is, there will always be a move by B for which A will not have
an adequate response; then A will lose. This means that B will win, for
It can be stated that there will be a winning strategy for B. Although this
the argument allows us to assert that in this type of game there will always be a strategy
winning strategy, this does not mean that its determination is 'easy', but unique-
mind that it is possible.

For a game whose matches do not necessarily have a finite number of

Plays, the extent of this result depends on the acceptance of the call.
"Axiom of choice." This well-known and controversial axiom of mathematics.
this states that in any collection (finite or infinite) of non-empty sets that do not
they have no common elements, it is possible to form a new set by choosing
a determined element from each of the sets in the collection. Utili-
Starting from this axiom, in 1930 Banach, Mazur, and Ulam defined an infinite game.
and they demonstrated that for him there was no winning strategy either for A or for
B.

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3. Exploiting advantages, defining strategies. The
NIM-type games

If we take another look at the classification of games and focus on the

that we have called strategy games, we can distinguish two types: those
whose characteristics are simple rules, short game duration, and quantity
of limited or relatively small information, referred to as small games
of strategy; and those, like chess or go, whose absolute control is practically
clearly impossible, due to the duration of the game, the complexity of the rules and
especially due to the high number of possible plays for a situation of-
finished. The study of some small strategy games will allow us to
see how mathematics intervenes in game analysis to find out what
player has an advantage and how a winning strategy is determined.

The chess game for 4 players. It is a game in which the

chance, but in which the number of possible plays is so high that it escapes control
thematic.

The relationship between games and mathematics can refer to different aspects of
game and mathematics are useful especially in strategy games for
determine the winning strategy. A strategy game is very similar to a
Mathematics problems and their resolution amount to solving a problem. By
Hello, the determination of winning strategies requires the use of heuristics.

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(how to proceed backwards, assume the game solved, apply symmetry, this-
analogies with another already solved game, etc.) similar to those that are applied
to solve math problems. For this reason, when one knows the
a winning strategy for a game, it stops being something playful to become
a solved problem. Of course, this only happens in certain games,
those whose practice quickly transcends the playful to delve into the
field of mathematical theories that are sometimes sophisticated and whose study is abhorred
will be provided next.

A group of small strategy games for two players, known as

NIM games (or NIM-type games) consist of placing one or several on the table.
piles of chips and establish the rules that determine how they should be removed
the tokens. The objective of the game is to take the last token, or its opposite, which is
to make the opponent remove the last piece. NIM has more than a hundred
years, since the analysis that allows to find a winning strategy for
this type of game was first published in 1902 by C.L. Boston, ma-
thematic of Harvard University.

The game gained some popularity in Europe around the 1960s.

XX thanks to the film by the French director Alain Resnais Last year in Ma-
nothing bad (1961), in which the protagonists play over and over again one of the
versions of this game. For this reason, that version is often known as the
name of Marienbad, name of a small spa town in the Repú-
Czech Republic where the movie takes place.

Marienbad is one of the variants of the game of NIM.

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The determination of a winning strategy of the general type, which allows for re-
solving any NIM game is one of the best examples of intervention
of mathematics in game analysis and in particular of the effectiveness that it
can represent numbers in binary system.

Towards the determination of a strategy

The following will analyze, firstly, games with a single pile of
tokens, in which it is possible to withdraw a variable number in each play
tokens, at least 1 and at most. Two cases are proposed for this purpose.
secrets and then their generalization is proposed. The simplest of these games is the
next

Game 1 (two players): 20 wins

20 tokens of the same color are placed on the table and in each turn one of the
Two players can remove one or two pieces. The player who removes the last piece...
who is the winner of the game. Which of the two players, the first or the second?
Which is better to play, gundo? How should one play to always win?
What happens if the number of tokens is varied? And what if the objective is varied, so
that the one who removes the last piece loses? This is a game sufficiently
simple enough to be fully analyzed, determine the winning strategy-
to generalize it for any number of tokens.

The practice of the game quickly allows one to discover that the player who leaves 3
chips on the table will win the next play. This is a good idea, but not
It allows you to win, as you need to know how to do it to leave 3 tokens. Without em-
Bargo, now it is known that if token 17 is withdrawn, it will be won, so it has been achieved.
reduce the number of cards. Going backwards, it is observed that if they are left
6 tokens are also won and, in general, if the number of tokens is left on the table
Any number that is a multiple of 3 always wins the game. This allows for the formulation of the
winning strategy: if there are 20 chips in the initial position, the first player
He can always win by removing 2 pieces in the first move and then leaving.
on the table a multiple of 3 (if the second takes a piece, the first will take
2 and vice versa). Thus, in this game the first player has an advantage since there is
a winning strategy for him.

The variation of the initial number of tokens can partly change the strategy.
even the player who has the advantage. In effect, given that the winning strategy
It consists of leaving a multiple of 3 on the table, to know what happens it is enough

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by dividing the initial number of chips by 3 and looking at the remainder of the division: if
this is 2 the first player wins by removing 2 pieces on the first move and then
completing groups of 3; if the remainder of the division is 1, the first also wins
player, now removing a piece in the first move. Finally, if the rest
if 0, then the second player wins by taking 2 tokens if the first has taken
give one or vice versa. In this case, the first player will never be able to leave one.
number of chips multiple of 3 on the table.

In this way, the game has been generalized for any number of initial tokens.
It can be made even more general by varying the number of tokens that is posi-
must withdraw on every play.

Game 2 (two players): The 100 loses

The first player writes a number from 1 to 10 on a piece of paper. The second one thinks.
a number from 1 to 10 and write the result of adding it to the first number
player. The game continues so that, in turns, each player adds to the last one.
result a number from 1 to 10. The player who, after adding their number
it results in a three-digit number (100 or higher) loses the pair
time. How should one play to win? Which of the two players, the first or
Does the second one have an advantage? What happens if the objective or the rules are varied?
game?

For an analysis of the game that allows us to arrive at the winning strategy can
proceed as follows: if the one who reaches 100 loses, the one who succeeds wins
write the number 99. What number should be written before to be sure
to be able to reach 99? The 88, since this will force the opponent to write a number-
between 89 and 98 and in the next move it will be possible to reach 99. As before, if you
go back, it will be seen that it is now necessary to make groups of 11. For
So, the winning strategy can already be stated: the player who writes 11 and
then the successive multiples of this one (if the opposite adds, the winner must
add11-n) will reach 99 and win the game. Given that the first player does not
You can reach 11 in the first play and yes, there is a strategy.
Foul for the second player. If the final number is changed, the first player will win.
as long as this number is not a multiple of 11 and the second one, otherwise.

Game 3 (two players): Total generalization

Let's assume there are chips on the table and in each move you can take some.
from 1 year (n < m); the player who removes the last piece wins the game. Which one?
of the following players, the first or the second to play, there is a strategy-

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Winner? What is this? If the objective varies and the player does not withdraw the last one-
My card is losing, how does the strategy change?

In reality, it is not about a single game, but about a group of abstract games.
both of whose concretions correspond to the two above; therefore,
the winning strategy of this game is a generalization that solves an in-
finitude of games of the same type. The formulation of this strategy is the if-
Next: it is divided among +1 and the remainder of the division is determined, which will be
a number between 0 and n. Then two cases are considered:

a) The remainder of the division is 0. In this case, there will be a winning strategy.
for the second player, who must leave a multiple of n + 1 on the
table; for this, in each play, if the first player removes pieces (0 <p
(n + 1), the second must remove n + 1 - pfichas, which is an amount
possible since it is always between 1 and n.
b) The remainder of the division is (0 < r < n + 1). In this case, there will be a strategy.
winning move for the first player, who will remove in their first move
leaving a multiple of n + 1 on the table, so that now
you can play as if you were the second player and apply the ga strategy
narrator of case A, that is, in each play, if the second player removes p
chips (0 < p < n + 1), the first one will have to remove n + 1 – p chips.

With this general solution, a multitude of specific games has been resolved.
two of these games, which start from a single pile of chips, can consider-
it is a simplification of the so-called NIM game that will be analyzed next
nuance.

A complex strategy: the game of NIM

The previous games can be generalized even further by making the numbe-
that the number of piles of chips is not unique, but rather a finite number any-
The so-called game of NIM consists of starting with several piles of tokens,
each with a number of chips not necessarily equal. The rules of the
the game allows each player, on their turn, to take the number of tokens that
desire, at least one and at most all, but from a single pile. The
the winner of the game is the player who manages to remove the last piece, although
It is also possible to play in such a way that the one who removes the last piece loses.
departure.

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Game 4 (two players): NIM first version
You start with three piles of chips, with 1, 3, and 5 chips in each pile. To your
turn, each player removes the pieces they want from a single pile (minimum
the player who removes the last piece wins the game. For
What player has a winning strategy?

The analysis of the game shows that, for this case, there is a winning strategy.
dora for the first player, although of all the possible opening moves only
one guarantees victory. Indeed, there are two moves that are not advisable to make.
neither of the players:

a) Leave two piles with the same number of chips.

b) Remove all the chips from a pile.

Indeed, if player A makes move a), player B eliminates the pieces from
third pile and win the game by making a move symmetrical to that of your opponent
If A picks chips from one of the piles, B picks the same amount from the other.
another pile, so when A finishes the cards from one pile, B will finish
the other one and will win). Similarly, if A makes move b) then B will take out
the piles from the stack that has more, leaving two piles with equal amount
of chips and will win the game, playing the same as in the previous case. Therefore,
the player who manages to force the opponent to make one of the two plays will win
prohibited. In the case being analyzed, if the first player removes 3
piles from the stack that has 5, leaving three piles with 1, 2, and 3 chips respectively.
te, ganará la partida, puesto que obligará al contrario, o bien a eliminar un montón o
good to equal two piles (with 1 or with 2 chips).

It is evident that the previous strategy is too specific and hardly generates
izable for any number of piles, and even for three piles with a
number of distinct and high chips. However, mathematics can help us to
determine a totally general strategy that is valid for any amount of money
and of chips in each pile. To do this, it is necessary to observe that if the can is expressed
the number of pieces in each pile in base two (binary system), and these numbers are placed
so that the corresponding units of each number are aligned in column, in ca-
the play will necessarily alter the parity of at least one of the columns (already
that a move requires changing only one of the numbers in one or more columns and for
at least one of its digits will change from 1 to 0). So, if at the initial position the sum
if all the numbers in each column are even, there will be a winning strategy for the
gundo player (which will consist of leaving, after their move, all the columns with
even sum, something that the first player cannot do), while if at least one

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the column has an odd sum, the winning strategy will be for the first player who is already in
his first move could leave all the columns with an even sum. To understand better
the functioning of this strategy let's look at a couple of examples of how it can be applied
in specific cases. First with three piles, with 1, 3, and 5 tokens respectively
(which is the game 4 solved earlier), and then with the most common version of the game
of NIM, called Marienbad, that starts from four piles, with 1, 3, 5, and 7.
cases in each one. In the first case, as has already been mentioned, we have three piles.
with 1, 3, and 5 chips.

1 in base two 1

3 in base two 11

5 in base two 101

If you sum the units of each column, it is verified that all have an odd sum.
(from right to left: 3, 3 and 1 respectively). In this case, there will be a strategy
winner for the first player. To do this, they must play in such a way that they leave all the co-
columns with even sum; the only possibility is to modify the 5 (1 0 1) and leave it at
2 (1 0), that is, remove 3 tokens from the pile that contains 5. Now it will have:

1 in base two 1

3 in base two: 11

2 in base two 10

Todas las columnas ya tienen suma par, con lo que cualquier jugada que haga
now the second player will make him leave some column with an odd sum, and
the first one will be able to return to leave all the columns with an even sum, up to the posi-
final action (all numbers will be 0, all columns will have an even sum).

Game 5 (two players): Marienbad

Four piles of tokens are placed on the table, with 1, 3, 5, and 7 tokens in each.
pile, respectively. In turn, each player removes the pieces they want.
from a single pile (at least one, at most all). The player wins the game
who removes the last piece. For which player is there a winning strategy?
Proceeding as in the previous case, we now have:

1 in base two 1

3 in base two 11

5 in base two 101

7 in base two 111

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Dado que en la posición inicial la suma de todas las columnas de los números
expressed in binary system is even, the first player will not be able to win and exist
was a winning strategy for the second. Indeed, any move that
the first player will lead to leaving at least one column in sum
odd; let’s suppose that he removes a token from the pile where there were three. He had to
drá:

1 in base two 1

2 in base two 10

5 in base two 101

7 in base two 111

Now the second player must modify a number in such a way that the column-
the one on the right has an even sum (and the rest remain the same because their sum
it is already a pair); that is to say, you must remove a single tile from any of the piles
except for the second, which is equivalent, in binary system, to changing a 1 to a
0 in the right column.

Although the NIM strategy is actually much harder to discover than

like the previous games, there is a valid general idea for the determination of
the winning strategy in all these games: to find a situation of equilibrium
that matches the final situation of the game and that one of the two players
can always maintain and the other can never reach.

In many cases, the game of NIM is presented in its reverse version, it is

to say, the player who removes the last piece loses the game instead of winning it.
In this case, the same player wins as would win in the normal game and the strategy-
Initially, it is the same and only varies at the moment when the play
"normal" leaves all the piles with less than 2 tokens. Now the play ga-
the game will consist of leaving an odd number of piles with a single token.
place of an even number that would be the correct move in the normal game.

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c. Objectives and rules of a game: equivalent games and
different games
The analysis of the objectives of a game and its rules, in a way
parallel, allows to discover that in many occasions strategy games appear-
seemingly different are actually equivalent and, conversely, games that
They differ little or very little; they are totally distinct and have clear strategies.
different minds.

Game 6 (two players): Hexagonal progress

On a board like in figure 1, each player, on their turn, takes the only
game piece, which is initially placed in position S, and places it in a ca-
neighboring chair, always moving to the right, whether horizontally or in
diagonal. The player who successfully places the piece in the last square (position M)
he is the winner of the game.

Figure 1

If the reader tries to solve the game, they will easily find out which squares there are.
that situate the piece to win. Proceeding backward to the conclusion that the
the first player has a winning strategy if they place the piece in the squares
It's not obvious that this game is equivalent to game 1 (the 20 wins), to
less than it is observed that the possible moves can be interpreted as
advance 2 (as long as we remain in the same row) or advance 1, as long as we
I switched lines. So an appropriate numbering of the boxes shows cla-
Rarely the equivalence. (See Figure 2).

Figure 2

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Game 7 (two players): Place the last one
In a board formed by a single row with six squares, three tokens are placed.
(as in Figure 3, which shows the initial position of the game). In turn, ca-
the player chooses a token and moves it to the right as many squares as
want (at least one and at most up to the end of the board). The objective
The goal of the game is to place all the tokens in the last square on the right; the player
the one who places last is the winner. It is possible that in the same box there is
more than one token. Note that, in this case, the game is equivalent to the pri-
my analyzed version of NIM (game 4): each token represents a pile and
moving it to the right means taking tokens from this pile, so that
when a piece reaches the end it is equivalent to considering that the pile corresponds to
the tooth is empty. Let's now look at two other games to analyze their equivalence.

Game 8 (two players): The Tsyanshidzi

Two piles of tokens are placed on the table, for example, 7 and 5 tokens respectively.
In turn, each player can take the number of tokens that they want.
take from one of the two piles (minimum one) and can also remove tokens from
the two piles, but in this case the number of tokens removed from each pile
the tone must be the same.

Game 9 (two players): Save the queen

On a chessboard, a queen is placed on one of its squares, for example,
in the square (h8). On their turn, each player can move the queen as many squares
as you want to the left, down or diagonally (to the left and
below). The player who manages to place the queen in the square (a1), that is, in the inter-
section of the first row and the first column wins the game.

The first of these games, called Tsyanchidzi, is a NIM-type game that in-
it includes the possibility of removing chips from more than one pile, something not considered
so far and which considerably complicates the determination of a strat-
General type winning guide. An analysis of the allowed movements in the
another game, Save the queen, allows to quickly see its equivalence with the ante-
rior, transforming the queen's movements into piece elimination: mo-
movement over a row - remove tokens from the first pile; movement over
a column – remove chips from the second pile diagonally – remove the same
number of pieces in the two piles.

With the previous examples, it has been possible to see that sometimes games that appear
they are completely equivalent. However, on other occasions their-

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on the contrary, that is to say, games that seem practically identical are in
very different realities, especially if we focus on the winning strategy-
of the same. Let's look at the following game, which is similar to the first one.
The proposed games (the 20 wins) are, at first glance, almost total.

Game 10 (two players): The daisy

An 11-petal daisy is drawn and a chip is placed on each one. To its
on each turn, a player can withdraw one or two tokens, but in the case that they choose
to remove two you can only do it if the two pieces are together, that is, belong-
born to two neighboring petals.

The initial position in the game La Margarita.

This game is very similar to the first one analyzed, but with 11 pieces in
place of 20. According to that, the first player could win the game
drawing 2 tokens on the first move and completing groups of three. Without em-
bargo, the imposed restriction (only two tokens can be taken if they are together)
completely invalidates that strategy: now what really matters is the p-
position of the pieces and the number of pieces is not relevant. In fact, the quantity
Initial chips don't matter, as if it's greater than 3, the winning strategy.
It can be formulated in the same way for any amount.

This game is no longer strictly a NIM game, but belongs to the llama-
two Nimbus games, whose overall strategy is not known. In reality, it is about
the simplest case of these games. In this specific example, it is possible to see
that the second player can always achieve victory, for any number
initial phase of chips, using a symmetric strategy. Indeed, the
game practice allows us to observe that if a player manages to separate the pieces in
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Strategy and problem-solving games Page 17
two groups with the same configuration (if in one group they are all together in the
another one, also, and similarly if they are separated) will easily win the game
playing symmetrically, that is, removing the same from the other group
tokens (and in symmetrical positions) that were eliminated by their opponent. Given
that the first player, on their first move, cannot separate the pieces into two
groups (for which I should be able to draw two non-adjacent tokens) and necessarily
will leave a gap, the second player can leave another gap that separates the fi-
groups into two.

[Link] and pseudogames

There are some games that have a similar appearance to those analyzed so far.
now, but they cannot actually be called strategy games, because
None of the players can intervene to change the outcome of the game.
In other words, the winning strategy is contained in the rules of the game,
so the decisions made by the players are irrelevant, since they do not
can change the outcome of a game. This type of games, frequently
among mathematical games, they are called "pseudogames". Instead
to find a winning strategy that is nonexistent, what can be done is
to demonstrate that the outcome of the game is indeed independent of the d-
decisions of the players and that, given the rules and the objective of the game, since-
It is determined which of the two players will win all the matches. Let's see
tres ejemplos de pseudojuegos.

Game 11 (two players): Only odds

20 tokens are placed on the table and on their turn each of the two players
You can withdraw 1, 3, or 5 tokens. The player who takes the last token is the winner.
of the game. Which of the two players, the first or the second to play, has
advantage? What happens if the number of tokens is varied? Is it a game of
Is the strategy like the previous ones, or is something different happening?

The practice of the game quickly shows that the second player wins all.
the games and that the first player cannot do anything to win. It could
to say that even if the second player does not want to win, they will do so forcefully.
Unlike previous games, in this one the parity (both in the number of
initial tokens, such as those that can be withdrawn, are decisive. For this reason, it is not
One can speak, in this case, of a winning strategy, since the solution of the game-
go is determined by its own rules.

Cristian Mario Galera Martínez

Strategy and problem-solving games Page 18
Indeed, if there are initially 20 chips (or any other odd number), the nu-
the number of tokens that will remain on the table will be odd (even minus odd gives odd)
now he will play second, who must withdraw an odd amount, leaving
on the table an amount of chips even (odd minus odd gives even). Therefore
so, after the first player plays there will always be a number of chips remaining
odd on the table and after playing the second there will always be a number left.
Given that 0 is even, the victory will always be for the second player, if the
if the initial number of chips is odd, the first player will necessarily win
the matches.

Game 12 (two players): Circles and Squares

Se dibuja una serie de círculos y cuadrados dispuestos en una hilera. A cada
a player can remove two identical pieces and replace them with a circle
or remove two different figures, in which case they will be replaced by a square.
Since the number of figures decreases, in the end there will be only one figure:
Is there a strategy that allows you to always win? What happens when it varies?
amount? What happens when the initial quantity of circles varies? Is this about
really from a strategy game? It starts, for example, from the configuration
initial shown in the following figure:

While playing several games with this configuration, it will be discovered that the second
the player seems to always win (the last figure is always a circle). If it goes-
the number of circles does not seem to alter the result, while if it goes-
It would be the one with squares, yes.

To realize that it is not actually a game, since the winner is...

finished with the initial configuration and the rules, one must analyze how it varies
the number of squares throughout a game. In each move can occur-
that the number of squares remains unchanged (if two are changed
circles by a circle, or a square and a circle by a square) or that
decrease by two (if two squares are changed for one circle). This implies that
if the initial number of squares is even, it will remain even throughout the game and not
It is possible that in the end there is a square, while if it is odd in the end
only one square will remain.

Cristian Mario Galera Martínez

Strategy and problem-solving games Page 19
In this work, we have focused on strategy games, in particular on
those that are totally analyzable, in order to see in what way
mathematics plays a role in determining a winning strategy
for one of the players, when it exists. Heuristically as study
particular cases, assume the game solved and proceed backwards, use the
symmetry or focusing on parity, all of them characteristic of problem-solving
Math problems are useful for analyzing this type of games that once
resolved, that is to say, once the winning strategy is found, they cease to be games
to move to the category of solved problems.

Broadly speaking, the analyzed games correspond to NIM-type games, where

what matters is the number of tokens, and in games like Nimbus, in which,
además de la cantidad, intervienen factores de posición que impiden la utiliza-
selection of the resolution strategies applied to the first ones and make that of-
the termination of strategies is, in general, more complex.

Cristian Mario Galera Martínez

Strategy and problem-solving games Page 20
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Corbalán, F. – Mathematical games for high school and
baccalaureate–Second edition, Madrid. Synthesis, 1988.
Jordi Deulofeu – Game Theory: Prisoners with di-
dominant themes and strategies – Editorial RBA
Google images:
[Link]
[Link]

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Strategy and problem-solving games Page 21