The Game of Hex
The game of Hex has been invented in 1942 by Piet Hein, reinvented in 1948 by John Nash, got its name in 1952 from a commercial distribution by Parker Brothers and has been popularized by Martin Gardner in 1957.
In Hex, the player to make the first move has a better chance of winning than the other player. This follows by the strategy stealing argument invented by John Nash. Hence the first player has an advantage in the game. To compensate for this advantage in the applet below, the central cell is blocked for the very first move.
Unlike chess or checkers, Hex can't end in a draw. You'll have to do your best to win against the computer.
The applet is courtesy of www.mazeworks.com, Copyright © 2002 Robert Kirkland. All Rights Reserved.
References
- B. Averbach and O. Chein, Problem Solving Through Recreational Mathematics, Dover, 2000 from 1980 original
- A. Beck, M.N. Bleicher, D. W. Crowe, Excursions into Mathematics, A K Peters, 2000
- C. Browne, HEX Strategy, A K Peters, 2000
- D. Gale, The Game of Hex and the Brouwer Fixed-Point Theorem, Am Math Monthly, vol. 86, no, 10 (Dec., 1979), 818-827
- M. Gardner, Hexaflexagons and Other Mathematical Diversions, The University of Chicago Press, 1988
Copyright © 1996-2009 Alexander Bogomolny
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