1. Arrange 10 coins as shown. Or stones. Or beads. Or ...

2. Each player may remove one or two coins in a single turn.

3. If two coins are being removed, they must be right next to each other.

4. To be right next to each other, they must have always been next to each other. They cannot be separated by a gap from which a coin has been removed. That is not right next to each other.

5. Players take turns alternatively.

The person who takes the last coin is the winner.

You may go first or second. It's your choice. Can you choose so you always win?
1. Can you work out a way to ALWAYS win by choosing whether you go first or second?

Can you explain your method for finding an infallible strategy?

If you aren't sure yet - how are you going about finding the solution?

What is your brain doing? How did it approach this problem? How did it see the possibilities?

2. Try setting up the circle with other numbers of coins. Does your method still always work?