Related papers: A Subtraction Nim with a Pass

A subset of the vertex set of a graph is geodetically convex if it contains every vertex on any shortest path between two elements of the subset. The convex hull of a set of vertices is the smallest convex set containing the set. We study…

Suppose you're on a game show, and you're given the choice of three doors: Behind one door is a car; behind the others, goats. You pick a door, say No. 1, and the host, who knows what's behind the doors, opens another door, say No. 3, which…

The starting point of this work is an equality between two quantities $A$ and $B$ found in the literature, which involve the {\em doubling-modulo-an-odd-integer} map, i.e., $x\in {\mathbb N} \mapsto 2x \bmod{(2n+1)}$ for some positive…

We consider the permutation analogue of Penney's game for words. Two players, in order, each choose a permutation of length $k\ge3$; then a sequence of independent random values from a continuous distribution is generated, until the…

For the classical backward induction algorithm, the input is an arbitrary $n$-person positional game with perfect information modeled by a finite acyclic directed graph (digraph) and the output is a profile $(x_1, \ldots, x_n)$ of pure…

We prove a recent conjecture of Duch\^ene and Rigo, stating that every complementary pair of homogeneous Beatty sequences represents the solution to an \emph{invariant} impartial game. Here invariance means that each available move in a…

We develop a theory of combinatorial games that is appropriate for describing positions in Hex and other monotone set coloring games. We consider two natural conditions on such games: a game is monotone if all moves available to both…

Zeckendorf proved that every positive integer $n$ can be written uniquely as the sum of non-adjacent Fibonacci numbers; a similar result, though with a different notion of a legal decomposition, holds for many other sequences. We use these…

For a graphical property $\mathcal{P}$ and a graph $G$, a subset $S$ of vertices of $G$ is a $\mathcal{P}$-set if the subgraph induced by $S$ has the property $\mathcal{P}$. The domination number with respect to the property $\mathcal{P}$,…

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…

The traditional approach to choosing moves in game-playing programs is the minimax procedure. The general belief underlying its use is that increasing search depth improves play. Recent research has shown that given certain simplifying…

Zeckendorf's Theorem states that every positive integer can be uniquely represented as a sum of non-adjacent Fibonacci numbers, indexed from $1, 2, 3, 5,\ldots$. This has been generalized by many authors, in particular to constant…

Let S be a topological property of sequences (such as, for example, "to contain a convergent subsequence" or "to have an accumulation point"). We introduce the following open-point game OP(X,S) on a topological space X. In the n'th move,…

The 3x+ 1 problem concerns iteration of the map on the integers given by T(n) = (3n+1)/2 if n is odd; T(n) = n/2 if n is even. The 3x+1 Conjecture asserts that for every positive integer n > 1 the forward orbit of n under iteration by T…

Much progress has been made in misere game theory using the technique of restricted misere play, where games can be considered equivalent inside a restricted set of games without being equal in general. This paper provides a survey of…

We consider the problem of determining the minimum number of moves needed to solve a certain one-dimensional peg puzzle. Let N be a positive integer. The puzzle apparatus consists of a block with a single row of 2N+1 equally spaced holes…

New combinatorial games are introduced, of which the most pertinent is Maharaja Nim. The rules extend those of the well-known impartial game of Wythoff Nim in which two players take turn in moving a single Queen of Chess on a large board,…

The deduction game may be thought of as a variant on the classical game of cops and robber in which the cops (searchers) aim to capture an invisible robber (evader); each cop is allowed to move at most once, and cops situated on different…

We define and give results on the game NecklaceNim NN($n$,$k$) which is PathNim PN($n$,$k$) with an additional move allowed on the end vertices. This game arises as a sub-game in the context of solving CircularNim CN($n$,$k$) when $k-2$…

Non-transitivity can arise in games with three or more strategies $A,B,C$, when $A$ beats $B$, $B$ beats $C$, and $C$ beats $A$, ($A>B>C>A$). An example is the children's game \textquotedblleft rock, scissors, paper" ($R,S,P$) where…