Hi Ingo,

On 27 Apr 2013, at 13:00, Ingo wrote:
> Reading this, one has to keep in mind that of course there were no computers 
> around in 1931, and that the name "Monte Carlo method" had not been coined.
> 
> Does someine here know of even older proposals of Monte-Carlo for games?

It's not a proposal of Monte Carlo, but Edgar Allen Poe hinted at probabilistic 
models of Chess and Draughts in the opening paragraphs of "Murders in the Rue 
Morgue" in 1841:

"The possible moves being not only manifold but involute, the chances of such 
oversights are multiplied; and in nine cases out of ten it is the more 
concentrative rather than the more acute player who conquers. In draughts, on 
the contrary, where the moves are unique and have but little variation, the 
probabilities of inadvertence are diminished, and the mere attention being left 
comparatively what advantages are obtained by either party are obtained by 
superior acumen."

Combinatorial game analysis from 170 years ago!

Regards,
Cameron

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