Tic-tac-whoa: Rhodes professor to research combinatorial game theory in Slovenia
dailymemphian.com
A Rhodes professor heading to Slovenia reveals how combinatorial game theory turns simple games like tic-tac-toe into a window on mathematical strategy, complexity, and perfect decision-making.
Combinatorial Game TheoryGame TheoryPerfect Information GamesMathematical Optimization
Theory Briefing
- A Rhodes College professor is traveling to Slovenia to research combinatorial game theory, the math behind perfect-play strategy games.
- Combinatorial game theory analyzes games like tic-tac-toe where both players have complete information and no element of chance clouds decisions.
- The research probes how abstract mathematical structures determine whether a first or second player can always force a win — or a draw.