Talk:Solved board games
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Does it make sense to include Scrabble as unsolved game, due to the random draw of the tiles? My hunch is that even if it were "solved" in some sense, there would be no useful way to articulate the solution other than, for example, "The first player makes the best available play.".
- I'm not sure, as you say it clearly has a random factor, however there does theoretically exist an algorithm which does play perfectly (i.e chooses the best position for words, calculating the probabilites of what letters the opponent has,etc.). Also significantly good computer players do exist, IIRC the best is currently Maven who has remained unbeaten (by human or computer) since 1987.
- Something about randomness should be added to the article I think. I'll do it myself if no-one with better understanding jumps in first. Bagpuss
An article that might be useful:
Games solved: Now and in the future by van den Herik HJ, Uiterwijk JWHM, van Rjiswijck J In the journal ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Might I suggest a an article devoted to solved puzzles? I'm thinking of things like the Eternity puzzle (http://www.mathpuzzle.com/eternity.html).
This article seems to be more about abstract games than board games, particularly now Nim has been added. Matthew Woodcraft
- Well under the classic definition and that used in Computer Science/Maths of the term "board game" virtually all board games are abstract games. Moreover as most "commercial" board games are more or less based upon chance so attract very little academic attention. While there are a few exception (for instance Scrabble) virtually all board games which are solved or coming close to be solved are abstract.
- Maybe the article should be moved to solved games but I don't really see much of a problem with its current title. --Imran
- I wasn't thinking so much about board games which aren't abstract games, as abstract games which aren't board games (I don't think I've ever seen a Nim board, for example). But as you point out, there are many commercial board games which aren't likely to be covered by this page, which is another good reason to retitle it. Matthew Woodcraft
- I think the current title is fine, a single exception (Nim) is OK. IMHO, conveying the spirit of the article in the title is more important than being technically 100% correct. Board games are only a small subset of abstract games, so this article is more about the latter than the former. -- Arvindn
I removed this bit to avoid clutter:
- Go is, of course, trivially solved in the ultra-weak sense when auction komi is employed.
I think we should only list game variants here if either they are popular or the solution has some interest in its own right. Matthew Woodcraft