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Article: The game of Hex.
- Article from:
- Australian Mathematics Teacher
- Article date:
- December 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The game
Many years ago I remember being fascinated with the game of Hex. This game seems to have gone out of fashion, which is a pity, because it is interesting to play, and provides some thoughtful mathematical analysis.
Like all good games, the rules are very simple. Hex is played on a diamond shaped board made up of hexagons. It can be of any size, but an 11 x 11 board makes for a good game. Two opposite sides of the diamond are labelled "red," the other two sides "blue" (or, often, "black" and "white"). The hexagons at the vertices of the diamond belong to either side. The game is for two players. One has a supply of red pieces, the other a supply ...