| A certain mathematician, his wife, and their teenage son all play a fair game of chess. One day, when the son asked his father for 10 dollars for a Saturday night date, his father puffed his pipe for a moment and replied, “Let’s do it this way. Today is Wednesday. You will play a game of chess tonight, tomorrow, and a third on Friday. If you win two games in a row, you get the money.”
“Whom do I play first, you or mom?” “You may have your choice,” said the mathematician, his eyes twinkling. The son knew that his father played a stronger game than his mother. To maximize his chance of winning two games in succession, should he play father-mother-father or mother-father-mother? |
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