poppers@aecom.UUCP (Michael Poppers) (03/21/84)
Suppose that 2 players, P1 and P2, are engaged in a best-of-three
chess tournament, with P1 playing the white pieces in the first game. Let
p1 be the probability that P1 wins when playing the white pieces, and let
p2 be the corresponding probability for P2. Suppose that 0 < p1 < 1 and
0 < p2 < 1, and that the probability of a draw is 0.
a) When is it better for P1 to purposely lose the first game (rather
than play to win) if the loser of the first game plays the white pieces for
the remaining game(s) ?
b) Show that it is never to P1's advantage to purposely lose the
first game if the rule is that the loser of any game plays the white pieces
in the next game.
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| PERITUS CLAVIS | Michael Poppers
| MACHINAE VIVET | ** poppers @ AECOM **
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P.S. Thanx to U.M. and Y.S.U., partners in the alphabet-soup game.