From: Eli Brandt <ebrandt@jarthur.cs.hmc.edu>
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 94 17:12:57 PDT
To: cypherpunks list <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: Re: How Many Games of Chess: Exact answer given!
In-Reply-To: <199404052103.AA01909@zoom.bga.com>
Message-ID: <9404060012.AA03909@toad.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


> I would counter that this was a single game irrispective of how many times it
> could be moved since the outcome is the same.

This would really simplify the strategy of chess...
	Smirnov		Jagermeister
1.	Wn !!		Rsgn
Commentary: Smirnov's "White wins" opening gave him an early and
dramatic tactical advantage.  Jagermeister showed foresight and
played "Black resigns".

This whole argument is getting rather weird, its topicality aside.
There are a finite number of legal positions in chess.  If any
shows up a third time, the game is over.  Thus we have a bound on
the length of a legal chess game.  Hence the number of games is
finite, and we don't have to quibble about whether it's countably
or uncountably infinite.

   Eli   ebrandt@hmc.edu