Problem
COM-B1-M08-P005 The Center Cell
#5
★☆☆☆☆ Level 1 of 5
Players alternately place tokens on empty cells of a \(5\times5\) board. A player who cannot move loses. Who wins?
The first player takes the center, then uses central symmetry.
The first player places a token in the center. All other cells split into centrally symmetric pairs. If the second player places a token in one cell of a pair, the first player places a token in the other. Thus the first player always responds and makes the last move.
State explicitly that the center has no partner and is taken first.