K as in Knife

Unknown quantities, resonant frequencies, moving parts, and everything in between -- an ongoing mixtape of great music, comedy, film, photography, and design, chosen and obsessively annotated by C. Mason Wells.

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I became mildly obsessed with the math game nim upon revisiting Resnais’s LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD in early 2008. Dan Sallitt, a friend and one of the best film writers around, explained a fool-proof strategy for winning on his blog: “Assume the opponent starts first. Step 1: Early game If the opponent takes more than one card from a row, go to step 2. However, if the opponent takes one card, then you should take one card from an untouched row. If, after that, the opponent does anything other than take one card from an as-yet untouched row, go to step 2. But if the opponent continues the pattern and takes one card from an untouched row, you should take one card from the final untouched row. Then go to step 2. To summarize the above: as soon as more than one card has been removed from any row, go to step 2. Otherwise, keep deflowering new rows by taking one card from them. Step 2: Good states After the opponent’s move, you must look for a move that will create one of the following six states. There will always be one and only one move that will bring you to one of these states. State 1: 1-2-3 State 2: 1-4-5 State 3: n-n (where n > 1) State 4: 1-n-n-1 (where n > 1) State 5: 1-1-1 State 6: 1 (i.e., victory) It doesn’t matter which order the quantities are in. In other words, 1-3-2 is the same as 1-2-3. Starting first If you start first, you are advised to play slowly to give the opponent a chance to make a mistake. If the opponent doesn’t make a mistake, you can’t win. But, as soon as the opponent does something you wouldn’t do in his or her place, you are in charge of the game again: just look for one of the six good states.” I became mildly obsessed with the math game nim upon revisiting Resnais’s LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD in early 2008. Dan Sallitt, a friend and one of the best film writers around, explained a fool-proof strategy for winning on his blog: “Assume the opponent starts first. Step 1: Early game If the opponent takes more than one card from a row, go to step 2. However, if the opponent takes one card, then you should take one card from an untouched row. If, after that, the opponent does anything other than take one card from an as-yet untouched row, go to step 2. But if the opponent continues the pattern and takes one card from an untouched row, you should take one card from the final untouched row. Then go to step 2. To summarize the above: as soon as more than one card has been removed from any row, go to step 2. Otherwise, keep deflowering new rows by taking one card from them. Step 2: Good states After the opponent’s move, you must look for a move that will create one of the following six states. There will always be one and only one move that will bring you to one of these states. State 1: 1-2-3 State 2: 1-4-5 State 3: n-n (where n > 1) State 4: 1-n-n-1 (where n > 1) State 5: 1-1-1 State 6: 1 (i.e., victory) It doesn’t matter which order the quantities are in. In other words, 1-3-2 is the same as 1-2-3. Starting first If you start first, you are advised to play slowly to give the opponent a chance to make a mistake. If the opponent doesn’t make a mistake, you can’t win. But, as soon as the opponent does something you wouldn’t do in his or her place, you are in charge of the game again: just look for one of the six good states.”

I became mildly obsessed with the math game nim upon revisiting Resnais’s LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD in early 2008. Dan Sallitt, a friend and one of the best film writers around, explained a fool-proof strategy for winning on his blog: “Assume the opponent starts first. Step 1: Early game If the opponent takes more than one card from a row, go to step 2. However, if the opponent takes one card, then you should take one card from an untouched row. If, after that, the opponent does anything other than take one card from an as-yet untouched row, go to step 2. But if the opponent continues the pattern and takes one card from an untouched row, you should take one card from the final untouched row. Then go to step 2. To summarize the above: as soon as more than one card has been removed from any row, go to step 2. Otherwise, keep deflowering new rows by taking one card from them. Step 2: Good states After the opponent’s move, you must look for a move that will create one of the following six states. There will always be one and only one move that will bring you to one of these states. State 1: 1-2-3 State 2: 1-4-5 State 3: n-n (where n > 1) State 4: 1-n-n-1 (where n > 1) State 5: 1-1-1 State 6: 1 (i.e., victory) It doesn’t matter which order the quantities are in. In other words, 1-3-2 is the same as 1-2-3. Starting first If you start first, you are advised to play slowly to give the opponent a chance to make a mistake. If the opponent doesn’t make a mistake, you can’t win. But, as soon as the opponent does something you wouldn’t do in his or her place, you are in charge of the game again: just look for one of the six good states.”