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Number of ways for playing first move optimally in a NIM game

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Two players A and B are playing NIM Game with each other. Both are playing optimally. Player A starts the game. The task is to find the number of ways of playing 1st move for A to ensure a winning strategy for A if possible, otherwise, print -1.

Examples: 

Input: arr[] = {1, 2, 3} 
Output: -1 
There is no winning strategy for A no matter how optimally he plays.

Input: arr[] = {2, 4, 5} 
Output:
In order to play optimally, A will pick one coin from first pile and that’s the only optimal move. 

Approach: 

  1. First check who will win the game by taking XOR of all the array elements if XOR is zero then no matter how optimally A play, A will always lose. If XOR is non-zero then go to Step 2.
  2. We will check for every pile if we can remove some coins from that pile so that after this move, XOR of all the array elements will be zero. So for all piles, one by one we will take xor of all remaining elements of the array and will check if XOR value is greater than the number of coins in the pile. If so, it is not possible to play the first move using this pile because we can only remove coins from the pile in a move, and cannot add coins. Otherwise, we will increment the number of ways.

Below is the implementation of the above approach: 

C++




// C++ implementation of the approach
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
// Utility function to return the XOR
// of all the array elements
int xorArray(int arr[], int n)
{
    int res = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
        res = res ^ arr[i];
 
    return res;
}
 
// Function to return the count of ways
// to play the first move optimally
int getTotalWays(int arr[], int n)
{
 
    // XOR of all the array elements
    int xorArr = xorArray(arr, n);
 
    // The player making the first move
    // can't win the game no matter
    // how optimally he plays
    if (xorArr == 0)
        return -1;
 
    // Initialised with zero
    int numberOfWays = 0;
 
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
 
        // requiredCoins is the number of coins
        // the player making the move must leave
        // in the current pile in order to play optimally
        int requiredCoins = xorArr ^ arr[i];
 
        // If requiredCoins is less than the current
        // amount of coins in the current pile
        // then only the player can make an optimal move
        if (requiredCoins < arr[i])
            numberOfWays++;
    }
 
    return numberOfWays;
}
 
// Driver code
int main()
{
 
    // Coins in each pile
    int arr[] = { 3, 4, 4, 2 };
    int n = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(arr[0]);
 
    cout << getTotalWays(arr, n);
 
    return 0;
}


Java




// Java implementation of the approach
class GFG
{
     
// Utility function to return the XOR
// of all the array elements
static int xorArray(int arr[], int n)
{
    int res = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
        res = res ^ arr[i];
 
    return res;
}
 
// Function to return the count of ways
// to play the first move optimally
static int getTotalWays(int arr[], int n)
{
 
    // XOR of all the array elements
    int xorArr = xorArray(arr, n);
 
    // The player making the first move
    // can't win the game no matter
    // how optimally he plays
    if (xorArr == 0)
        return -1;
 
    // Initialised with zero
    int numberOfWays = 0;
 
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
    {
 
        // requiredCoins is the number of coins
        // the player making the move must leave
        // in the current pile in order to play optimally
        int requiredCoins = xorArr ^ arr[i];
 
        // If requiredCoins is less than the current
        // amount of coins in the current pile
        // then only the player can make an optimal move
        if (requiredCoins < arr[i])
            numberOfWays++;
    }
    return numberOfWays;
}
 
// Driver code
public static void main(String[] args)
{
 
    // Coins in each pile
    int arr[] = { 3, 4, 4, 2 };
    int n =arr.length;
 
    System.out.println(getTotalWays(arr, n));
}
}
 
// This code is contributed by Code_Mech


Python3




# Python3 implementation of the approach
 
# Utility function to return the
# XOR of all the array elements
def xorArray(arr, n):
 
    res = 0
    for i in range(0, n):
        res = res ^ arr[i]
 
    return res
 
# Function to return the count of ways
# to play the first move optimally
def getTotalWays(arr, n):
 
    # XOR of all the array elements
    xorArr = xorArray(arr, n)
 
    # The player making the first move
    # can't win the game no matter
    # how optimally he plays
    if xorArr == 0:
        return -1
 
    # Initialised with zero
    numberOfWays = 0
 
    for i in range(0, n):
 
        # requiredCoins is the number of coins the
        # player making the move must leave in the
        # current pile in order to play optimally
        requiredCoins = xorArr ^ arr[i]
 
        # If requiredCoins is less than the current
        # amount of coins in the current pile
        # then only the player can make an optimal move
        if requiredCoins < arr[i]:
            numberOfWays += 1
 
    return numberOfWays
 
# Driver code
if __name__ == "__main__":
 
    # Coins in each pile
    arr = [3, 4, 4, 2]
    n = len(arr)
 
    print(getTotalWays(arr, n))
     
# This code is contributed by Rituraj Jain


C#




// C# implementation of the approach
using System;
 
class GFG
{
     
// Utility function to return the XOR
// of all the array elements
static int xorArray(int []arr, int n)
{
    int res = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
        res = res ^ arr[i];
 
    return res;
}
 
// Function to return the count of ways
// to play the first move optimally
static int getTotalWays(int []arr, int n)
{
 
    // XOR of all the array elements
    int xorArr = xorArray(arr, n);
 
    // The player making the first move
    // can't win the game no matter
    // how optimally he plays
    if (xorArr == 0)
        return -1;
 
    // Initialised with zero
    int numberOfWays = 0;
 
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
    {
 
        // requiredCoins is the number of coins
        // the player making the move must leave
        // in the current pile in order to play optimally
        int requiredCoins = xorArr ^ arr[i];
 
        // If requiredCoins is less than the current
        // amount of coins in the current pile
        // then only the player can make an optimal move
        if (requiredCoins < arr[i])
            numberOfWays++;
    }
    return numberOfWays;
}
 
// Driver code
static public void Main ()
{
 
    // Coins in each pile
    int []arr = { 3, 4, 4, 2 };
    int n = arr.Length;
     
    Console.Write(getTotalWays(arr, n));
}
}
 
// This code is contributed by ajit.


PHP




<?php
// PHP implementation of the approach
 
// Utility function to return the XOR
// of all the array elements
function xorArray($arr, $n)
{
    $res = 0;
    for ($i = 0; $i < $n; $i++)
        $res = $res ^ $arr[$i];
 
    return $res;
}
 
// Function to return the count of ways
// to play the first move optimally
function getTotalWays($arr, $n)
{
 
    // XOR of all the array elements
    $xorArr = xorArray($arr, $n);
 
    // The player making the first move
    // can't win the game no matter
    // how optimally he plays
    if ($xorArr == 0)
        return -1;
 
    // Initialised with zero
    $numberOfWays = 0;
 
    for ($i = 0; $i < $n; $i++)
    {
 
        // requiredCoins is the number of coins
        // the player making the move must leave
        // in the current pile in order to play optimally
        $requiredCoins = $xorArr ^ $arr[$i];
 
        // If requiredCoins is less than the current
        // amount of coins in the current pile
        // then only the player can make an optimal move
        if ($requiredCoins < $arr[$i])
            $numberOfWays++;
    }
 
    return $numberOfWays;
}
 
// Driver code
 
// Coins in each pile
$arr = array(3, 4, 4, 2 );
$n = sizeof($arr);
 
echo getTotalWays($arr, $n);
 
// This code is contributed
// by Akanksha Rai
?>


Javascript




<script>
// Javascript implementation of the approach
 
// Utility function to return the XOR
// of all the array elements
function xorArray(arr, n)
{
    let res = 0;
    for (let i = 0; i < n; i++)
        res = res ^ arr[i];
 
    return res;
}
 
// Function to return the count of ways
// to play the first move optimally
function getTotalWays(arr, n)
{
 
    // XOR of all the array elements
    let xorArr = xorArray(arr, n);
 
    // The player making the first move
    // can't win the game no matter
    // how optimally he plays
    if (xorArr == 0)
        return -1;
 
    // Initialised with zero
    let numberOfWays = 0;
 
    for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
 
        // requiredCoins is the number of coins
        // the player making the move must leave
        // in the current pile in order to play optimally
        let requiredCoins = xorArr ^ arr[i];
 
        // If requiredCoins is less than the current
        // amount of coins in the current pile
        // then only the player can make an optimal move
        if (requiredCoins < arr[i])
            numberOfWays++;
    }
 
    return numberOfWays;
}
 
// Driver code
 
    // Coins in each pile
    let arr = [ 3, 4, 4, 2 ];
    let n = arr.length;
 
    document.write(getTotalWays(arr, n));
 
// This code is contributed by souravmahato348.
</script>


Output: 

1

 

Time Complexity: O(N)
Auxiliary Space: O(1)



Last Updated : 18 Nov, 2022
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