Nice try, but I think (without trying it) it usually doesn’t work. The program seems to choose randomly from the plays that will win (not necessarily maximize its score), so how it plays in separate games seems to differ. This cleverly makes it hard to learn its strategy, and also makes a lot of games tantalizingly close. — Mike
On Jun 19, 2019, at 8:25 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [math-fun] Dots and Triangles Date: 2019-06-18 20:37 From: Mike Beeler <mikebeeler2@gmail.com <mailto:mikebeeler2@gmail.com>> To: math-fun <math-fun@mailman.xmission.com <mailto:math-fun@mailman.xmission.com>> Reply-To: math-fun <math-fun@mailman.xmission.com <mailto:math-fun@mailman.xmission.com>>
Very nice game! After losing many, I won twice, but can’t repeat it. It seems the program does not go for a maximum score, only for a (random?) win, thus making it hard to learn its strategy.
— Mike Young Rohan remarks:
Rohan Ridenour
Tue, Jun 18, 8:30 PM (20 hours ago) There’s a very easy way to beat the AI. StringReverse@".sevom s'IA eht ypoc dna ,eno no ssap ,sbat owt nepO" It's hard to believe that such an elegant game wasn't invented sooner. What a shame not to have E. Berlekamp's insights into it. —rwg
On Jun 18, 2019, at 5:14 PM, Tomas Rokicki <rokicki@gmail.com> wrote:
Dots and Boxes is a nice simple children's game, right? Elwyn Berlekamp (the "wyn" in Winning Ways) showed us the surprising depths to this game.
Here's a tiny variant on a tiny board; just nine triangles. You get to choose to go first or second. Can you beat it?
I'm finding it surprisingly difficult.
https://tomas.rokicki.com/dottri.html
This should work on your mobile phone too.
-tom
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