Nim

A Maths Starter of The Day

This is a game for two players.

Make a pile of ten items. Pens and pencils would be suitable.

Each player takes it in turn to remove one, two or three items.

The player to remove the last item is the winner.

Play the game four or five times then write down any strategies you may have found.

Are you good enough to challenge your teacher at this game?

 

 

 

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Keywords: Starter | Arithmetic | Game | Problem Solving

"Variants of Nim have been played since ancient times. The game is said to have originated in China (it closely resembles the Chinese game of Tsyanshidzi, or "picking stones"), but the origin is uncertain; the earliest European references to Nim are from the beginning of the 16th century. Its current name was coined by Charles L. Bouton of Harvard University, who also developed the complete theory of the game in 1901, but the origins of the name were never fully explained. The name is probably derived from German nimm! meaning "take!", or the obsolete English verb nim of the same meaning. Some people have noted that turning the word NIM upside-down and backwards results in WIN.

Nim is usually played as a misère game, in which the player to take the last object loses. Nim can also be played as a normal play game, which means that the person who makes the last move (i.e., who takes the last object) wins. This is called normal play because most games follow this convention, even though Nim usually does not."

Wikepedia,
Saturday, February 17, 2007

 

"I found this settler very good because it was practical. The 1st person to remove the third item wins!!!! You can also do this by words"

Hannah Maxfield, 9T (St Margaret Ward)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007

 

"This is a very cool game, I played it with my sister"

Mere, Kogarah
Sunday, March 09, 2008

 

"Very interesting...
Tried it with my sister, mum and friend. Would like to see more practical things though. But overall, very good."

Zara, Belmont Academy
Wednesday, March 19, 2008

 

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This starter has scored a mean of 4.7 out of 5 based on 15 votes.
 

  

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You might also like to try Calculator Nim
Teacher, do your students have one to one access to computers?

Whether your students each have a TabletPC or share a desktop PC, this activity lends itself to eLearning (Engaged Learning).

Here's the URL which will take students
to "23 0r Bust" which is a different game but based on similar principles.

www.transum.org/go/?to=23