Teradata Magazine | Dataplay: Inside the box

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Inside the box

Created by Scott Kim

BUSINESS IS LIKE CHESS, as Keith Ferrell explains in his introduction to the special section (read it here). To excel you look beyond the current position and consider the implications of every possible move.

Sometimes the winning strategy requires making a short-term sacrifice. Take Dots and Boxes, a paper and pencil game you probably played as a child. Two players take turns drawing lines on a grid of dots to create boxes. When a player completes a box by drawing in the fourth side, the player initials that box and draws another line. When all boxes have been completed, the player with the most boxes wins.

Child’s play? Hardly. Mathematician Elwyn Berlekamp wrote a whole book about Dots and Boxes, summarizing more than 30 years of analysis. And his isn’t the final word on the subject.

Here are three puzzles that teach the beginnings of sophisticated strategy for this seemingly simple game.

It's player B's move. Player A is ahead, 4 boxes to 3. Both players use the greedy short-term strategy of completing a square whenever possible. If both players play aggressively, who will win and what will be the final score?

It's player A's move. It looks like player A will lose by opening up a long chain of boxes for player B. But there's a better move. Where should player A play in order to win the game?

It's B's move. Player B is ahead six boxes to one. How can player A win? Hint: use the same trick you used in the previous game. Now it's your turn to test your skills in a full game. Beat the computer in a game of Dots and Boxes by March 15. If you win, you'll be entered in a drawing for the classic wooden chess set you see at top of the page and throughout this issue. Good luck!

Congratulations!

Anatoly Lazovski, a consultant with iGate who specializes in database and application development, was selected as the winner of last issue’s New World Order puzzle.

Be a winner like Anatoly and play!

This issue’s contest ends March 15, 2004.