Customer Reviews

Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays, Vol. 1

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This is the most difficult collection of puns that I have ever read. Of course, that has something to do with the fact that they are surrounded by some of the most complex mathematical analyses of games that you will find. The types of games that are examined are processes that have the following general structure:

1) There are two players.
2) There are many different positions, with one singled out as the starting position.
3) Players move according to very specific rules.
4) The players move alternately.
5) Both players have complete information.
6) There is no chance element to the play. For example, dice are not involved.
7) The first player unable to move loses the game.
8) The game will always move to a state where a player cannot move, which is an ending condition.

The hardest part of the material is the notation, it is unusual and absolutely necessary to understand the treatment of nearly all the games. However, once you get over that, something that took me a couple of passes, the games become interesting. Some of them turn out to be trivial, although at first reading, that would not be your conclusion.
I also would caution you that this is not recreational mathematics in its base form. These games and problems are nontrivial and most require some serious thought, even when the result is simple. As I read through these games and the mathematical examination of the consequences of playing them, I was struck by two semi-profound thoughts.

1) The human mind can create a game out of just about anything. Some of these games are nothing more than colored marks on paper.
2) Even simple rules can generate complex results. However, mathematical analysis gives us powerful tools that inform us how to win, or as the case may be, how not to lose, or to lose as slowly as possible.

Berklekamp and company have created a classic work that is a must read if you want to understand game-like behavior. While not easy, it is some of the most worthwhile material that you will ever read. I read the first edition several years ago and found the going just as interesting the second time.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

This is a classic set of books, and greatly improved from the original version. But if you're looking for the old Volume 1, this book will disappoint. The second edition of Winning Ways is split into 4 separately published books. So THIS Volume 1 is just half of the old Volume 1. Be prepared.

Surely, no other books on this subject can be better than this series by Berlekamp and Conway, both are masters of the field! There is no doubt to this. But if someone, like a high school math teacher would like to experience the same thrills but at an elementary level, what is better than Mathematical Games and Pastimes by Domoryad, one of The Popular Lectures in Mathematics Vol. 10. Similar entertainment and taste but more accessible. ISBN B0006AYRNK

These new editions have many new and interesting stuff that is not included in the original outdated series. It contains many fresh ideas that the authors recently discovered including those old ones. For old ones the original volume has more to say...

This book is dazzling. It can be pretty tough going but it is
well worth the effort. You can always tell the work of a genius because it illuminates the landscape and shows us things we have never seen before. I design games for a living and this book rocks! Hackenbush, Nimbers, games with 1/2 move advantage. Well illustrated. ONLY PROBLEM: Where are volumes 2-4?

I tried reading this book, but honestly it was pretty nonsensical. There is too much breadth at the expense of depth. It feels like every game is just glossed over and the structure of the book varies greatly and every game seems to handled differently. I was reading this book to learn about combinatorial game theory, but I feel as if I got nothing substantial out of reading this book. I was looking for a textbook style learning material, but this felt more like a brochure about math games