The Master's thesis deals with the basics of the mathematical theory of combinatorial games and the possibilities for using such games in mathematics lessons in primary school.
The first, theoretical part, presents a rounded summary of the basic theory with definitions and theorems. In it, we define basic concepts such as combinatorial game, game tree, strategy, position, and illustrate them with many examples. Then we prove the Zermelo's theorem on the existence of a winning strategy for one of the players and the Sprague-Grundy theorem on the equivalence between an arbitrary unbiased game of normal type and a NIM game with one heap of appropriate size.
In the second part, we present 21 simple combinatorial games that could be used in mathematics lessons in primary school. Most of the games are original work, and each featured game is accompanied by an explanation of the winning strategy and a content placement of the game alongside relevant math concepts from the primary school curriculum, such as numbers, symmetry, divisors, and the like. With the occasional use of these types of games, regular mathematics lessons could be enriched and students' logical reasoning and strategy analysis could be further developed.
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