Nim

E653412

Nim is a classic impartial combinatorial game of removing objects from heaps, fundamental in game theory and central to the development of the Sprague–Grundy theorem.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf finite game
mathematical game
normal-play game
two-player game
hasCategory abstract strategy game
hasHistoricalAnalysisBy Charles L. Bouton NERFINISHED
hasInformationStructure no chance moves
no hidden information
hasKeyConcept Grundy numbers NERFINISHED
N-positions
Nim-sum
P-positions
Sprague–Grundy theorem NERFINISHED
binary representation of heap sizes
hasMathematicalProperty disjunctive sum of impartial games reduces to a Nim heap via Grundy numbers
every position has a unique Grundy number
hasMoveType removal of objects from heaps
hasObjective force opponent into a position with no legal moves under normal play
hasOutcomeClass first player win under optimal play except when initial Nim-sum is zero
hasPlayerCount 2
hasRepresentation heaps of tokens
piles of matches
rows of stones
hasRule on each move a player chooses exactly one heap
on each move a player removes one or more objects from the chosen heap
two players move alternately
under normal play the player who takes the last object wins
hasRuleVariant misère play where the player who takes the last object loses
hasSolutionDescribedIn Bouton’s theorem NERFINISHED
hasStrategy optimal play is to move to a position with Nim-sum zero
hasTurnStructure sequential turns
hasVariant Moore’s Nim NERFINISHED
Turning Toads and Frogs (as a related impartial game) NERFINISHED
Wythoff Nim NERFINISHED
misère Nim NERFINISHED
hasWinningCondition Nim-sum of heap sizes equals zero for losing positions
Nim-sum of heap sizes nonzero for winning positions
influenced algorithmic game solving methods
the general theory of impartial games NERFINISHED
isCentralTo development of the Sprague–Grundy theorem
isExampleOf game solvable by complete mathematical analysis
normal-play impartial game
isFundamentalTo combinatorial game theory
isUsedAs canonical example in teaching combinatorial game theory
test case for impartial game algorithms
wasSolvedIn 1901

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Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.