Game Theory - Lecture 3 Q23

One week after the "flood" at SMU, things are drying out. We had class in our normal room this week.

Game Theory

As usual, we started off the class with a quiz. It had about the same amount of questions as last week's quiz. There were a couple of questions that I was a little unsure of. One of them was that a promise is better for both parties ... true or false. I think I put true, but later learned from the lecture that it is false. Both a promise and a threat, if carried out, makes it worse for both parties ... otherwise it wouldn't be a strategic move.

After the quiz, we reviewed a few more scenarios of the prisoner's dilema. He showed us this report of how two parties in dispute must use a lawyer. When one party had a lawyer and the other did not, the party with the lawyer did better. But if both had a lawyer or if neither had a lawyer, then both did OK.

The rest of the lecture was about promises and threats, assurances and warnings, conditional and uncontional moves. Just briefly to review ... promises and threats are moves a player will carry out in order to make the other player change his move. By carrying out a promise and threat, both parties are worse off. Assurances and warnings are just statements telling the other party what would happen if no strategic move is made. And finally, unconditional moves are strategic moves where one party is commited to do one thing ... usually it's a first move or a move that turns a games into a sequential game. Conditional moves are 2nd moves that do that same thing ... I think. I'll need to go back and review all this stuff at lunch today.

Quixote Update
Chapter 23

Quixote and Sancho head for the mountains. They come across this chest or saddle bag full of writings, gold and other items. Sancho is so happy to have the gold while Quixote is interested in the writings ... he wants to know who owns the stuff. They continued on their journey in search of the owner when the come across a wild man. The wild man disappears and Quixote is sure he is the owner of the stuff they found. While in search of this wild man, they come across a goat herder. The goatherd tells them that indeed the wild man is the owner of the stuff they found. He tells them how the wild came into the mountains one day and how somedays he is "normal" while on other days he is completely insane. They all agree that they need to capture him and take him to the city and have him cured.

While talking to the goatherd, the wild man joins them. He approached them and greeted Quixote. Quixote got off his horse and hugged the wild man. The wild man returned the embrace ... they hugged as if they had known each other for quite some time. The next chapter will be about what the two men say.

Chess Update

I uploaded my latest PGN file. It has the game I played on Saturday.

The 3/28/06 chessgames.com puzzle is 32. ? I think it is Rxh4, Nxf3 33. Rh7+ Kxh7 34. Nf6+ Kg7 35. Nxd7 and white is up a bishop.

The answer is ... Rxh4 and the rest is history.