My Ph.D. research was based on Game theory. This is based on the fact that Game theory can be applied in almost all fields ranging from economics, agriculture, operations research, military, telecommunications, politics, etc. My Ph.D. research was creating a game theory communication protocol for a wireless IoT network. Well, I won’t bore you with the technical jargon.
I was introduced to Game theory during my third-year undergraduate studies at the University of Ibadan. Operations Research was a compulsory course for Mathematics Major. However, the lecturer briefly discussed Game theory. Well, we did not go in-depth in Game theory but I learned enough to pique my interest.
Game theory — is the science of strategy. It is the mathematical modeling of the strategic interaction between rational or irrational players. A game comprised of players, strategies, payoff, information set, etc.
In Scrabble, game theory can be defined as follows.
- Game: Scrabble is a zero-sum game played by 2–4 people.
- Players: The competitors of the game. Typically, two people for a competition.
- Strategy: To win, every player should have a unique strategy, e.g play a closed-board game, or aim to play all tiles at once ( a bingo), this gives an additional 50 points.
- Payoff: The payoff in this competition was a gold medal.
- Information set: Scrabble has 100 tiles. All players know the tile values.
I was a rookie. I played Scrabble with my friends casually. Here I was, going to a competition. I had one goal — Win the tournament and get the gold medal. This was the goal of over 35 players at the tournament. SO, I had to get a good strategy. My strategy comprised of four sub-strategies:
- Memorize all two-letter words: Knowledge of 2-letter words improves one Scrabble play to easily play parallel words on the board. There are 107 2-letter words. On the bus trip to the competition, I spent 8 hours memorizing all the words.
- Play at least 3 bingos in the game: A bingo is an additional 50 points. 3 bingos improve one score a great deal.
- Attempt to play an open-board game: Most competitors liked playing a closed-board game. I aimed to play an open-board game such that my opponent won’t have an idea for my next gameplay.
- Be confident: Recall, I was a rookie. I was going to play with competitors with over 10 years of experience. Most of them were winners in several tournaments and competitions.
My coach arranged a friendly game with the current champion. She won the first game with over 20 points. But, I had studied her strategy. She played a closed-board game. In the next game, my confidence had grown more and I played 2 bingos and ensured the board was open despite her several attempts to play a closed-board game. I won that round with over 50 points.
That evening, word went round in the camp. There was a new Scrabble underdog in the competition.
to be continued…
