The game has a countless number of rounds

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Bob and Alice are going to play a math game. The game has a countless number of rounds. In the nth round.

Boba chooses a family $ F_n $ dfe rational open ranges (ie: data $ p, q \in \mathbb{Q}$, the range is the set $\left\{x \in \mathbb{Q} | p <x <q \right \}$ such that

$$\mathbb{Q} = \bigcup_{I \in F_n } I$$.

We say that this family $F_n$ is an open cover of $\mathbb{Q}$.

Alice chooses an $I_n \in F_n$ range

Alice wins the game if $\bigcup_ {n=1} ^ {\infty} I_n = \mathbb{Q}$, and Bob wins if he prevents Alice from winning. Display a winning strategy for Alice.

Attempt: Let $r_1 < r_2 < r_3$ be a well ordering of the rational numbers. Then in round $n$, Alice should choose an interval that contains $r_n$. This will guarantee that she covers $\mathbb{Q}$ in a countably infinite number of rounds

I don't think it needs to be ordered, but why?

What if the families Bob chooses are not intervals but arbitrary unions or finite intersections of intervals?

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It does have to be well-ordered, but that is a side property of what you need. Simply choosing a well-ordering of the rationals will not guarantee Alice a win. She needs an enumeration, as you have implicitly assumed and lulu has also mentioned.

By enumerating the rationals $\Bbb Q = \{r_i\}_{i\in \Bbb N}$, you have well-ordered it, namely with the order $r_i \prec r_j \iff i < j$. So a well-ordering in necessary.

But it is not sufficient. If Alice chooses an enumeration $\{q_i\}_{i\in \Bbb N}$ of $\Bbb Q\setminus \{0\}$ and similarly defines $q_i \prec q_j \iff i < j$, and then continues to define $q_i \prec 0$ for all $i$, this also provides a well-ordering of $\Bbb Q$, but one in which Alice can theoretically lose, as she and Bob are not required to make another pick after doing infinitely many, and thus she may not ever pick a set containing $0$.


As for your other question, it does not matter what form the sets take. All that is required is that at each step Bob's family covers all of $\Bbb Q$ so that Alice can pick a set holding her required rational.