Measured by how many options or possibilities your move will open up for you?
No, typically not. Because "possibilities" is a word belonging to the language of imprecise play such as we find in the real world. Mathematically speaking a game like Chess is won (or lost, or drawn) right from the first move if players alternate. So the value of a game is all about the consequences of taking different numbers of moves before your opponent plays again.
So why did I pick Chess? Because it has no random elements. But in fact games which are mathematically interesting tend not to get played much in real life. If you want to go just slightly further down the rabbithole, a good game to take a quick look at is Hackenbush.
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Date: 2009-01-23 05:44 pm (UTC)You're thinking along the right lines...
Measured by how many options or possibilities your move will open up for you?
No, typically not. Because "possibilities" is a word belonging to the language of imprecise play such as we find in the real world. Mathematically speaking a game like Chess is won (or lost, or drawn) right from the first move if players alternate. So the value of a game is all about the consequences of taking different numbers of moves before your opponent plays again.
So why did I pick Chess? Because it has no random elements. But in fact games which are mathematically interesting tend not to get played much in real life. If you want to go just slightly further down the rabbithole, a good game to take a quick look at is Hackenbush.