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Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays: Volume 1 (AK Peters/CRC Recreational Mathematics Series) 2nd Edition

by Elwyn R. Berlekamp (Author), John H. Conway (Author), Richard K. Guy (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 35 ratings
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Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays, Volume 4 (AK Peters/CRC Recreational Mathematics Series)
Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays, Volume 4 (AK Peters/CRC Recreational Mathematics Series)
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This classic on games and how to play them intelligently is being re-issued in a new, four volume edition. This book has laid the foundation to a mathematical approach to playing games. The wise authors wield witty words, which wangle wonderfully winning ways. In Volume 1, the authors do the Spade Work, presenting theories and techniques to "dissect" games of varied structures and formats in order to develop winning strategies.
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  1. ISBN-10
    1568811306
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1568811307
  3. Edition
    2nd
  4. Publisher
    A K Peters/CRC Press
  5. Publication date
    January 16, 2001
  6. Part of series
    AK Peters/CRC Recreational Mathematics Series
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    7.36 x 0.51 x 9.61 inches
  9. Print length
    296 pages
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

" ""Winning Ways is an absolute must have for those who are interested in mathematical game theory. It is sure to please any fan of recreational mathematics or simply anyone who is interested in games and how to play them well."" -Jacob McMillen, Math Horizons, November 2005
""This new edition confirms the status of the book as a standard reference, which it will continue to be for at least another decade."" -Adhemar Bultheel, Bulletin of the Belgian Mathematical Society, December 2005"

About the Author

Berlekamp , Elwyn R.; Conway , John H.; Guy , Richard K.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ A K Peters/CRC Press; 2nd edition (January 16, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 296 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1568811306
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1568811307
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.66 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.36 x 0.51 x 9.61 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 35 ratings

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  1. Elwyn R. Berlekamp

    Elwyn R. Berlekamp

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    Richard K. Guy

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  3. John Horton Conway

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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
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35 global ratings
Black and White, just like other reviewers said. I should have listened.
1 Star
Black and White, just like other reviewers said. I should have listened.
I took a chance on this despite seeing the reviews, because someone on Twitter sent me a picture showing they'd received a color copy instead and that the others might have just been unlucky. Mine came in the mail today, and lo and behold, it was in black and white. This isn't just a nitpicky thing — the games described in the book require being able to tell the difference between red and blue parts of the drawings, so when those diagrams is in black and white, it's absolutely useless.Decided to order it (and the other three volumes) from Taylor & Francis instead. Hopefully ordering directly from the publisher will alleviate the issue.
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Top reviews from the United States

FR
5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2023
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If you want to study math in a deep level, you will certainly need this book
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic set of books
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2019
This is the first book in a fantastic series. They present an in-depth study in 2-player perfect information games. While they are written for the mathematically literate, there is still things that can be learned by people casually interested in the subject. Definitely check out the preview before purchasing.

It's unfortunate that the two 1-star reviews are dragging down the rating because they got black and white versions of the books. The books as they were originally written and laid out don't deserve such a low rating.
4 people found this helpful
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Bill Shillito
1.0 out of 5 stars Black and White, just like other reviewers said. I should have listened.
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2021
Verified Purchase
I took a chance on this despite seeing the reviews, because someone on Twitter sent me a picture showing they'd received a color copy instead and that the others might have just been unlucky. Mine came in the mail today, and lo and behold, it was in black and white. This isn't just a nitpicky thing — the games described in the book require being able to tell the difference between red and blue parts of the drawings, so when those diagrams is in black and white, it's absolutely useless.

Decided to order it (and the other three volumes) from Taylor & Francis instead. Hopefully ordering directly from the publisher will alleviate the issue.
Customer image
Bill Shillito
1.0 out of 5 stars Black and White, just like other reviewers said. I should have listened.
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2021
I took a chance on this despite seeing the reviews, because someone on Twitter sent me a picture showing they'd received a color copy instead and that the others might have just been unlucky. Mine came in the mail today, and lo and behold, it was in black and white. This isn't just a nitpicky thing — the games described in the book require being able to tell the difference between red and blue parts of the drawings, so when those diagrams is in black and white, it's absolutely useless.

Decided to order it (and the other three volumes) from Taylor & Francis instead. Hopefully ordering directly from the publisher will alleviate the issue.
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
11 people found this helpful
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E. Roosendaal
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific set of books
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2013
OK, I must confess, this review is really based on the old set of (two) volumes, which i purchased around 1985. Rarely did I get so much value for money. I must have spent dozens of evenings in delight reading these volumes, which contain both serious math and scores of jokes on almost every page. And every two years or so I find myself rereading parts of it, chuckling at the pictures and puns once again.

And how satisfying, to be able to stun some friends one afternoon by beating them consistently at dots and boxes, because I happened to remember the theory behind the game. And how did I baffle them once when I solved a (supposedly very tough) nim-like problem in a newspaper in an instant, because I could remember Sprague-Grundy theory.

I can't recommend these splendid volumes enough.
They have given me countless hours of joy.
14 people found this helpful
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Greg A.
1.0 out of 5 stars Useless black and white print
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2021
Verified Purchase
Not at all happy. Received a cheap black and white print, *not* the color print you see when you click the "Look inside" button above the book's image.

It matters for this book in particular because the illustrations are extensive and rely on color to convey what is described in the text. Black and white illustrations literally remove information from the book.
7 people found this helpful
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Mark R. Roop-kharasch
5.0 out of 5 stars Geniuses and Games
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2001
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?
8 people found this helpful
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Greg Chatham
1.0 out of 5 stars Scam. Item should be delisted. Illustrations in black and white.
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2021
Verified Purchase
Bait and switch for a very expensive book. Printed in India. Poorly in black and white. Digital look inside version is in color. This book has many color illustrations that are fundamental. I can barely tell the difference of red and blue in the first hackenbush drawing.
6 people found this helpful
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waldo25
2.0 out of 5 stars an amalgamation of nonsense?
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2010
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
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Patrick Traill
5.0 out of 5 stars Ausgezeichnet und faszinierend, sehr wohl in Farbe
Reviewed in Germany on October 10, 2018
Verified Purchase
Ein ausgezeichnetes und faszinierendes Buch, sehr wohl in Farbe, i mGegensatz zu dem was in der Besprechung durch Mary Ann Cummiskey auf Amazon.com von behauptet wird. Heute empfing ich die 2nd Edition, Volume I © 2001 von Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, und sie ist wohl farbig.
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Michaël
4.0 out of 5 stars Conway à sa juste valeur
Reviewed in France on December 18, 2017
Verified Purchase
Un contenu d'une qualité et d'une rigueur que vous ne trouverez pas sur le net. Je pense que ce livre vaut tout à fait son prix; après tout, c'est l'œuvre d'une vie !
Par contre, il se déguste. Le survol n'est pas possible pour apprécier ce travail qui frôle régulièrement le génie.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most significant books on combinatorial game theory ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 11, 2015
Verified Purchase
One of the most significant books on combinatorial game theory, presented in a charming tone. It avoids the dryness of most academic textbooks but retains most of the rigour, and credits the reader with a certain degree of intelligence, encouraging thoughtful reading.
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Giorgio Baghini
5.0 out of 5 stars Assolutamente fantastico
Reviewed in Italy on July 15, 2012
Verified Purchase
Il primo di una serie di libri fenomenale sull'argomento, che parte dalle basi fino ad arrivare a trattazioni di discreta complessità. Il primo volume è caratterizzato da una teoria base molto ben elaborata e spiegata, fondamentale per le applicazioni pratiche. Ogni capitolo contiene riferimenti bibliografici ad ulteriori approfondimenti, ed una sezione "Extra" per gli argomenti un po' più avanzati. Senz'ombra di dubbio un'opera fantastica.
3 people found this helpful
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Matthew
3.0 out of 5 stars Cheap printing spoils it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2015
Verified Purchase
Winning Ways is a classic of recreational mathematics. I've wanted a copy since I was small. Imagine my disappointment...

The first edition of this book made heavy use of colour illustrations, not for decoration but as a critical part of the exposition. For instance, the introductory chapters are about "Red-Blue Hackenbush," which is played on graphs with edges coloured red and blue. The colours direct which player can move on an edge, and that is necessary information for evaluating the move-advantage value of the different graphs, the basic goal of combinatorial game theory. The second edition is all black and white; but the text still refers to the colours in the illustrations, which have all been changed into indistinguishable grey. As a result, some of the math which would have been difficult enough in the first edition, is incomprehensible in the second.

Converting colour to black and white may have been necessary to keep the books affordable, but the conversion was not done to professional standards here. They could have made the shades of grey more different from each other, and they should at least have added some kind of key to which shade was supposed to represent which colour if they couldn't fully redraw the illustrations and update the text to use something other than colour to express the meaning. The Moire patterns on the author photos, which came about because somebody scanned an already-halftoned image and attempted to halftone it again at a different screen size, are another indicator that professional standards simply were not followed in preparing the second edition for printing.

The parts of the text that still make sense are great!

Edit to add: the "look inside" here on Amazon shows colour in the illustrations. That's just dishonest.
13 people found this helpful
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