Related papers: Extended circular nim
We show that the winning positions of a certain type of two-player game form interesting patterns which often defy analysis, yet can be computed by a cellular automaton. The game, known as {\em Blocking Wythoff Nim}, consists of moving a…
In this paper, we use techniques of enumerative combinatorics to study the following problem: we count the number of ways to split $n$ balls into nonempty, ordered bins so that the most crowded bin has exactly $k$ balls. We find closed…
We generalize the results and conjectures of Tam\'{a}s Lengyel, showing that the \textsc{nim}-values of a large class of two-dimensional subtraction-transfer games are periodic. These are impartial, normal-play games with two piles of…
We introduce CUT, the class of 2-player partition games. These are NIM type games, played on a finite number of heaps of beans. The rules are given by a set of positive integers, which specifies the number of allowed splits a player can…
Winning the coin toss at the end of a tied soccer game gives a team the right to choose whether to kick either first or second on all five rounds of penalty kicks, when each team is allowed one kick per round. There is considerable evidence…
We present a new family of Nim games where the rules depend on a given `coloring' of the tokens, each token being either black or white. The rules are as in Nim with the restriction that a white token on top of each heap is not allowed. We…
We investigate the reconfiguration of $n$ blocks, or "tokens", in the square grid using "line pushes". A line push is performed from one of the four cardinal directions and pushes all tokens that are maximum in that direction to the…
In this paper, we analyze the mis\`ere versions of two impartial combinatorial games: k-Bounded Greedy Nim and Greedy Nim. We present a complete solution to both games by showing necessary and sufficient conditions for a position to be…
In this paper, we study an impartial game called Delete Nim. In this game, there are two heaps of stones. The player chooses one of the heaps and delete the other heap. Next, she takes away one stone from the chosen heap and optionally…
We study Maker/Breaker games on the edges of the complete graph, as introduced by Chvatal and Erdos. We show that in the (m:b) clique game played on K_{N}, the complete graph on N vertices, Maker can achieve a K_{q} for q = (m/(log_{2}(b +…
We introduce the game Slow $A$-Nim which generalizes a number of recently studied games. Slow $A$-Nim is played on $n$ stacks of tokens, and the set $A$ indicates the number of stacks a player can play on. Once a player has decided on the…
In card games, in casino games with multiple decks of cards and in cryptography, one is sometimes faced with the following problem: how can a human (as opposed to a computer) shuffle a large deck of cards? The procedure we study is to break…
Bachet's game is a variant of the game of Nim. There are $n$ objects in one pile. Two players take turns to remove any positive number of objects not exceeding some fixed number $m$. The player who takes the last object loses. We consider a…
We consider the following game that has been used as a way of testing claims of extrasensory perception (ESP). One is given a deck of $mn$ cards comprised of $n$ distinct types each of which appears exactly $m$ times: this deck is shuffled…
Fix two integers $n, k$, with $n$ divisible by $k$, and consider the following game played by two players, Waiter and Client, on the edges of $K_n$. Starting with all the edges marked as unclaimed, in each round, Waiter picks two yet…
The authors introduce the impartial game of the generalized Ry\=u\=o Nim, a variant of the classical game of Wythoff Nim. In the latter game, two players take turns in moving a single queen on a large chessboard, attempting to be the first…
The game of Antonim is a variant of the game Nim, with the additional rule that heaps are not allowed to be the same size. A winning strategy for three heap Antonim has been solved. We will discuss the solution to three-heap Antonim and…
A random $n$-permutation may be generated by sequentially removing random cards $C_1,...,C_n$ from an $n$-card deck $D = \{1,...,n\}$. The permutation $\sigma$ is simply the sequence of cards in the order they are removed. This permutation…
We consider various probabilistic games with piles for one player or two players. In each round of the game, a player randomly chooses to add $a$ or $b$ chips to his pile under the condition that $a$ and $b$ are not necessarily positive. If…
Wythoff Nim aka Corner the Lady is a classic combinatorial game. A Queen is placed on an infinite chess board and two players take alternate turns, moving the Queen closer to the corner. The first player that corners the Queen wins. What…