About this book
Games are one of the most practiced human activities, by children as well as adults. When shared with others, we talk about board games.
For centuries, there have been thousands of them, and new ones regularly appear, often linked to the culture of different countries.
Once the rule is defined, everyone tries their best to win. This is where mathematics plays (one might say!) a fundamental role, drawing upon, depending on the type of game, several of its branches.
In two-player games where the positions of both opponents are known, such as checkers, chess, go, but also other simpler games, graph theory makes it possible, in theory, to study all the situations (in practice, there are often too many of them). When the information is incomplete, because we don't know the opponent's hand or because we need to draw cards or roll dice, probabilities come into play. But it doesn't stop there! Geometry, combinatorics, and arithmetic may also be called upon.
Features
Games with complete information Incomplete information: the role of probabilities When geometry and combinatorics get involved Games from all cultures
For centuries, there have been thousands of them, and new ones regularly appear, often linked to the culture of different countries.
Once the rule is defined, everyone tries their best to win. This is where mathematics plays (one might say!) a fundamental role, drawing upon, depending on the type of game, several of its branches.
In two-player games where the positions of both opponents are known, such as checkers, chess, go, but also other simpler games, graph theory makes it possible, in theory, to study all the situations (in practice, there are often too many of them). When the information is incomplete, because we don't know the opponent's hand or because we need to draw cards or roll dice, probabilities come into play. But it doesn't stop there! Geometry, combinatorics, and arithmetic may also be called upon.
Features
Games with complete information Incomplete information: the role of probabilities When geometry and combinatorics get involved Games from all cultures