“Actually the Marienbad match game is a variation of one of the most ancient of all two-person mathematical divertissements. Originating in China around 3000 B.C., it was given the name Nim by Harvard Mathematician Charles Leonard Bouton, who found, in 1901, that a strategy using move combinations based on binary numbers would make anyone a winner. All the successful player has to do is memorize them—if he can.
In fact, Nim is more of a trap than a game. The canny con man, with all the possible combinations locked in his head, graciously allows his victim to go first (see diagram). Since Nim’s starting setup (7-5-3-1) is a winning combination itself, whoever tampers with it (i.e., the player who makes the first move) is doomed. But even if the wily match-sharp, out of courtesy or cunning, should agree to move first in an occasional game, he can still save the day by resorting to the memorized combinations as soon as the proper situation presents itself.”
Time Magazine - Two on Match, 1962
Be careful with Slavin and games.
