Reassessing Zero-Sum Games: Various Types of Matching Pennies

This chapter continues to critically reassess the significance and limitations of zero-sum games, which were jointly established by mathematician John von Neumann and economist Oscar Morgenstern during the difficult times of Second World War. First of all, we will intensively discuss several Zero-Sum Two-Person Games, with special reference to the Games of Matching Pennies. New graphical illustrations will be attempted for clarification of the matter. Then, we will turn to novelist Edgar Alan Poe’s best story The Purloined Letter, showing how the Poe story may challenge the validity of Neumann–Morgenstern approach. Next, we will shed new light on Conan Doyle’s famous story The Final Case as a variant of the Games of Matching Pennies. Finally, we will pick up the Game of Stone, Paper, Scissors, which constitutes another important member of Zero-Sum Two-Person Games.