Matchsticks Puzzle
Written on 7:59 am by Vja Students
There are 16 matchsticks arranged in 4 rows
---------------1--------------row 1
-------------2 3 4 ----------- row 2
-----------5 6 7 8 9 ----------row 3
-----10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ----row 4
A player can remove as many matchsticks he wants but all from a particular row(he gets to chose any row). The player who removes the last stick wins. If two players play this game alternatively by removing sticks in the way described above what would be the strategy the players should follow to maximize their winning chances (i.e try not to lose, ofcourse one of the players has to lose but it should be decisive, in the sense player 1 wins becouse he starts to play first and follows the strategy all along the game).
