Solitaire Clobber

Clobber is a new two-player board game. In this paper, we introduce the one-player variant Solitaire Clobber where the goal is to remove as many stones as possible from the board by alternating white and black moves. We show that a checkerboard configuration on a single row (or single column) can be reduced to about n/4 stones. For boards with at least two rows and two columns, we show that a checkerboard configuration can be reduced to a single stone if and only if the number of stones is not a multiple of three, and otherwise it can be reduced to two stones. We also show that in general it is NP-complete to decide whether an arbitrary Clobber configuration can be reduced to a single stone.Comment: 14 pages. v2 fixes small typ

Master index

Pla general, del mural ceràmic que decora una de les parets del vestíbul de la Facultat de Química de la UB. El mural representa diversos símbols relacionats amb la química

The Orthogonal Colouring Game

International audienceWe introduce the Orthogonal Colouring Game, in which two players alternately colour vertices (from a choice of m ∈ N colours) of a pair of isomorphic graphs while respecting the properness and the orthogonality of the colouring. Each player aims to maximise her score, which is the number of coloured vertices in the copy of the graph she owns. The main result of this paper is that the second player has a strategy to force a draw in this game for any m ∈ N for graphs that admit a strictly matched involution. An involution σ of a graph G is strictly matched if its fixed point set induces a clique and any non-fixed point v ∈ V (G) is connected with its image σ(v) by an edge. We give a structural characterisation of graphs admitting a strictly matched involution and bounds for the number of such graphs. Examples of such graphs are the graphs associated with Latin squares and sudoku squares

Jogos combinatórios em grafos: jogo Timber e jogo de Coloração

Studies three competitive combinatorial games. The timber game is played in digraphs, with each arc representing a domino, and the arc direction indicates the direction in which it can be toppled, causing a chain reaction. The player who topples the last domino is the winner. A P-position is an orientation of the edges of a graph in which the second player wins. If the graph has cycles, then the graph has no P-positions and, for this reason, timber game is only interesting when played in trees. We determine the number of P-positions in three caterpillar families and a lower bound for the number of P-positions in any caterpillar. Moreover, we prove that a tree has P-positions if, and only if, it has an even number of edges. In the coloring game, Alice and Bob take turns properly coloring the vertices of a graph, Alice trying to minimize the number of colors used, while Bob tries to maximize them. The game chromatic number is the smallest number of colors that ensures that the graph can be properly colored despite of Bob's intention. We determine the game chromatic number for three forest subclasses (composed by caterpillars), we present two su cient conditions and two necessary conditions for any caterpillar to have game chromatic number equal to 4. In the marking game, Alice and Bob take turns selecting the unselected vertices of a graph, and Alice tries to ensure that for some integer k, every unselected vertex has at most k − 1 neighbors selected. The game coloring number is the smallest k possible. We established lower and upper bounds for the Nordhaus-Gaddum type inequality for the number of P-positions of a caterpillar, the game chromatic and coloring numbers in any graph.Estudo de três jogos combinatórios competitivos. O jogo timber é jogado em digrafos, sendo que cada arco representa um dominó, e o sentido do arco indica o sentido em que o mesmo pode ser derrubado, causando um efeito em cadeia. O jogador que derrubar o último dominó é o vencedor. Uma P-position é uma orientação das arestas de um grafo na qual o segundo jogador ganha. Se o grafo possui ciclos, então não há P-positions e, por este motivo, o jogo timber só é interessante quando jogado em árvores. Determinamos o número de P-positions em três famílias de caterpillars e um limite inferior para o número de P-positions em uma caterpillar qualquer. Além disto, provamos que uma árvore qualquer possui P-positions se, e somente se, possui quantidade par de arestas. No jogo de coloração, Alice e Bob se revezam colorindo propriamente os vértices de um grafo, sendo que Alice tenta minimizar o número de cores, enquanto Bob tenta maximizá-lo. O número cromático do jogo é o menor número de cores que garante que o grafo pode ser propriamente colorido apesar da intenção de Bob. Determinamos o número cromático do jogo para três subclasses de orestas (compostas por caterpillars), apresentamos duas condições su cientes e duas condições necessárias para qualquer caterpillar ter número cromático do jogo igual a 4. No jogo de marcação, Alice e Bob selecionam alternadamente os vértices não selecionados de um grafo, e Alice tenta garantir que para algum inteiro k, todo vértice não selecionado tem no máximo k − 1 vizinhos selecionados. O número de coloração do jogo é o menor k possível. Estabelecemos limites inferiores e superiores para a relação do tipo Nordhaus-Gaddum referente ao número de P-positions de uma caterpillar, aos números cromático e de coloração do jogo em um grafo qualquer

Dynamique d'apprentissage pour Monte Carlo Tree Search : applications aux jeux de Go et du Clobber solitaire impartial

Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) has been initially introduced for the game of Go but has now been applied successfully to other games and opens the way to a range of new methods such as Multiple-MCTS or Nested Monte Carlo. MCTS evaluates game states through thousands of random simulations. As the simulations are carried out, the program guides the search towards the most promising moves. MCTS achieves impressive results by this dynamic, without an extensive need for prior knowledge. In this thesis, we choose to tackle MCTS as a full learning system. As a consequence, each random simulation turns into a simulated experience and its outcome corresponds to the resulting reinforcement observed. Following this perspective, the learning of the system results from the complex interaction of two processes : the incremental acquisition of new representations and their exploitation in the consecutive simulations. From this point of view, we propose two different approaches to enhance both processes. The first approach gathers complementary representations in order to enhance the relevance of the simulations. The second approach focuses the search on local sub-goals in order to improve the quality of the representations acquired. The methods presented in this work have been applied to the games of Go and Impartial Solitaire Clobber. The results obtained in our experiments highlight the significance of these processes in the learning dynamic and draw up new perspectives to enhance further learning systems such as MCTSDepuis son introduction pour le jeu de Go, Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) a été appliqué avec succès à d'autres jeux et a ouvert la voie à une famille de nouvelles méthodes comme Mutilple-MCTS ou Nested Monte Carlo. MCTS évalue un ensemble de situations de jeu à partir de milliers de fins de parties générées aléatoirement. À mesure que les simulations sont produites, le programme oriente dynamiquement sa recherche vers les coups les plus prometteurs. En particulier, MCTS a suscité l'intérêt de la communauté car elle obtient de remarquables performances sans avoir pour autant recours à de nombreuses connaissances expertes a priori. Dans cette thèse, nous avons choisi d'aborder MCTS comme un système apprenant à part entière. Les simulations sont alors autant d'expériences vécues par le système et les résultats sont autant de renforcements. L'apprentissage du système résulte alors de la complexe interaction entre deux composantes : l'acquisition progressive de représentations et la mobilisation de celles-ci lors des futures simulations. Dans cette optique, nous proposons deux approches indépendantes agissant sur chacune de ces composantes. La première approche accumule des représentations complémentaires pour améliorer la vraisemblance des simulations. La deuxième approche concentre la recherche autour d'objectifs intermédiaires afin de renforcer la qualité des représentations acquises. Les méthodes proposées ont été appliquées aux jeu de Go et du Clobber solitaire impartial. La dynamique acquise par le système lors des expérimentations illustre la relation entre ces deux composantes-clés de l'apprentissag

HABILITATION A DIRIGER DES RECHERCHES Graphes et jeux combinatoires

On considère généralement que la théorie des graphes est née au 18e siècle, et qu'elle connaît un essor significatif depuis les années 1960. L'avènement de la théorie des jeux combinatoires est quant à lui plus récent (fin des années 1970). Ce domaine reste alors moins exploré dans la littérature, et de nombreuses études sur des techniques générales de résolution sont toujours actuellement en cours de construction. Dans ce mémoire, je propose plusieurs tours d'horizons à propos de problématiques bien ciblées de ces deux domaines.Dans un premier temps, je m'interroge sur la complexité des règles de jeux de suppression de tas. Il s'avère que dans la littérature, la complexité d'un jeu est souvent définie comme la complexité algorithmique d'une stratégie gagnante. Cependant, il peut aussi avoir du sens de s'interroger sur la nature des règles de jeu. Un premier pas dans cette direction a été fait avec l'introduction du concept de jeu dit invariant. On notera au passage que certains résultats obtenus ont mis en exergue des liens entre combinatoire des mots et stratégie gagnante d'un jeu. Dans un deuxième chapitre, j'aborde les jeux sous l'angle des graphes. Deux aspects sont considérés:* Un graphe peut être vu comme un support de jeu. Le cas du jeu de Nim et ses variantes sur les graphes y est examiné.* Certaines problématiques standard de théorie des graphes peuvent être transformées dans une version ludique. C'est d'ailleurs un objet d'étude de plus en plus prisé par la communauté. Nous détaillerons le cas des jeux de coloration sommet.Enfin, le dernier chapitre se concentre sur deux nouvelles variantes de problématiques issues de la théorie des graphes: le placement de graphes et les colorations distinguantes. J'en profite pour faire un état de l'art des principaux résultats sur ces deux domaines

Symbolic Search in Planning and General Game Playing

Search is an important topic in many areas of AI. Search problems often result in an immense number of states. This work addresses this by using a special datastructure, BDDs, which can represent large sets of states efficiently, often saving space compared to explicit representations. The first part is concerned with an analysis of the complexity of BDDs for some search problems, resulting in lower or upper bounds on BDD sizes for these. The second part is concerned with action planning, an area where the programmer does not know in advance what the search problem will look like. This part presents symbolic algorithms for finding optimal solutions for two different settings, classical and net-benefit planning, as well as several improvements to these algorithms. The resulting planner was able to win the International Planning Competition IPC 2008. The third part is concerned with general game playing, which is similar to planning in that the programmer does not know in advance what game will be played. This work proposes algorithms for instantiating the input and solving games symbolically. For playing, a hybrid player based on UCT and the solver is presented

New results about impartial solitaire clobber

Impartial Solitaire Clobber is a one-player version of the combinatorial game Clobber, introduced by Albert et al. in 2002. The initial configuration of Impartial Solitaire Clobber is a graph, such that there is a stone placed on each of its vertex, each stone being black or white. A move of the game consists in picking a stone, and clobbering an adjacent stone of the opposite color. By clobbering we mean that the clobbered stone is removed from the graph, and replaced by the clobbering one. The aim is to make a sequence of moves leaving the minimum number of stones on the graph; this number is called the reducibility value of the configuration. As any one-player game, Solitaire Clobber is essentially an optimization problem, whose resolution may give bounds on the two-player version of the game. As an optimization problem, Solitaire Clobber can be considered as a constrained version of the underlying optimization problem related to Hamiltonian path. This enables to show that Solitaire Clobber is NP-hard. Solitaire Clobber was already studied in various graph structures, including paths, cycles, trees, and Hamming graphs. In this paper we investigate the problem in complete multipartite graphs. In particular, we give a linear-time algorithm computing the reducibility value of any configuration in complete multipartite graphs. We also address some extremal questions related to Solitaire Clobber in general graphs