I was reading about the “subtract a square” game at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtract_a_square , and I was thinking about potential variations on the concept. Under this variation, two players would begin play with a number of tokens between them. The two players would take turns subtracting a nonzero number of tokens equal to the sum of the a^2 and b^2 terms of a Pythagorean triple (two square numbers that equal a third square number when summed). If no Pythagorean triple can be subtracted from the pile, the players may subtract a single square number. The last player to remove tokens from the pile wins. I was wondering if there were a dominant strategy for a variant like this.
2026-03-26 16:04:17.1774541057
Dominant strategy for variant on “subtracting the square” game
35 Views Asked by Bumbble Comm https://math.techqa.club/user/bumbble-comm/detail AtRelated Questions in PYTHAGOREAN-TRIPLES
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