Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2003/ib/paper-3/5h/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 ib Paper 3 5H Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Player A maximizes the payoff, while B minimizes it. The fourth row is strictly worse for A than the first in every column, so remove by dominated strategy elimination. On the remaining rows, column is strictly better for B than , so remove . Now is strictly worse than in the two remaining columns. The reduced zero-sum game has payoff matrixwith rows and columns .
If A uses mixed strategy , the expected payoffs against these columns are and . The first increases and the second decreases, so their minimum is maximized where they are equal: . ThusFor an optimality certificate, B uses mixed strategy , making A's first two row payoffs and . Equality gives . Against this B strategy the four row payoffs are , while against the displayed A strategy the three column payoffs are . Therefore A guarantees and B holds A to , verifying the value of a zero-sum game and the original, unreduced mixed strategy.
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