Question

You play the following game with a friend. You share a pile of chips, and you take turnsremoving between one and four chips from the pile. (In particular, at least one chip must beremoved on each turn.) The game ends when the last chip is removed from the pile; the onewho removes it is the loser.It is your turn, and there are 2014 chips in the pile. How many chips should you remove toguarantee that you win, assuming you then make the best moves until the game is over

Answer 1

Each time, a person takes 1, 2, 3, or 4 chips. The strategy for a player to win the game is taking the number of chips so that the number of chips left is the form of 5k + 1 .

If It is my turn, and there are 2014 chips in the pile, I shoud take 3 chips and the left is 2011 (=5.k +1). And if the opponent takes x chips (x = 1, 2, 3, 4) , i win take 5 - x chips to guarantee the left is always in the form 5k + 1. And finally, the opponent will take the last chip.

Explanation:

Each time, a person takes 1, 2, 3, or 4 chips. The strategy for a player to win the game is taking the number of chips so that the number of chips left is the form of 5k + 1 .

If It is my turn, and there are 2014 chips in the pile, I shoud take 3 chips and the left is 2011 (=5.k +1). And if the opponent takes x chips (x = 1, 2, 3, 4) , i win take 5 - x chips to guarantee the left is always in the form 5k + 1. And finally, the opponent will take the last chip.