Games in Normal Form
Klaus Ritzberger · 2002
Abstract Normal Form The notion of a pure strategy is suggestive. Recall that a pure strategy (in an extensive form game) assigns a choice to each and every information set of a player. Given a pure strategy for each opponent, therefore, a player can figure out what she should do in all contingencies that may arise in the course of the game. If all players have done this, each of them has chosen a pure strategy and these pin down which plays may materialize (up to chance moves). Hence, after all players have decided on a pure strategy, they may well submit those to an umpire, who can then uniquely reconstruct what will happen in the game if it were actually played. This provides an alternative way to ascertain the outcome of a game, without having the players play it.