In combinatorial game theory, a game is partisan if it is not impartial. That is, some moves are available to one player and not to the other.
Most games are partisan; for example, in chess, only one player can move the white pieces.
Partisan games are more difficult to analyze than impartial games, as the Sprague–Grundy theorem does not apply. However, the application of combinatorial game theory to partisan games allows the significance of numbers as games to be seen, in a way that is not possible with impartial games.
Famous quotes containing the words partisan and/or game:
“We are in a period when old questions are settled and the new are not yet brought forward. Extreme party action, if continued in such a time, would ruin the party. Moderation is its only chance. The party out of power gains by all partisan conduct of those in power.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“Hollywood held this double lure for me, tremendous sums of money for work that required no more effort than a game of pinochle.”
—Ben Hecht (1893–1964)