In combinatorial game theory, the zero game is the game where neither player has any legal options. Therefore, the first player automatically loses, and it is a second-player win. The zero game has a Sprague–Grundy value of zero. The combinatorial notation of the zero game is: { | }.
A zero game is the opposite of the star (game theory) {0|0}, which is a first-player win since either player must (if first to move in the game) move to a zero game, and therefore win.
The Zero Game is also the title of a novel by Brad Meltzer.
Read more about Zero Game: Sprague-Grundy Value, Examples
Famous quotes containing the word game:
“My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly say “I do not play bridge” is allowed to go over in the corner and run the pianola by himself, while the poor neophyte, no matter how much he may protest that he isn’t “at all a good player, in fact I’m perfectly rotten,” is never believed, but dragged into a game where it is discovered, too late, that he spoke the truth.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)