Zermelo's Theorem: The First Formal Game Theory Result
About this episode
We explore Ernst Zermelo's 1913 theorem for two-player, perfect-information, deterministic games. It guarantees that such games are solvable: one side can force a win, or both can force at least a draw. We unpack the non-repetition argument, why it's finite, and how this foundational insight underpins modern game theory, AI, and formal verification—long before backward induction became standard.
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