Mastering NIM and Impartial Games with Weak Neural Networks: An AlphaZero-inspired Multi-Frame Approach

Abstract: This paper provides a theoretical framework that validates and explains the results in the work with Bei Zhou experimentally finding that AlphaZero-style reinforcement learning algorithms struggle to learn optimal play in NIM, a canonical impartial game proposed as an AI challenge by Harvey Friedman in 2017. Our analysis resolves a controversy around these experimental results, which revealed unexpected difficulties in learning NIM despite its mathematical simplicity compared to games like chess and Go. Our key contributions are as follows: We prove that by incorporating recent game history, these limited AlphaZero models can, in principle, achieve optimal play in NIM. We introduce a novel search strategy where roll-outs preserve game-theoretic values during move selection, guided by a specialised policy network. We provide constructive proofs showing that our approach enables optimal play within the (\text{AC}^0) complexity class despite the theoretical limitations of these networks. This research demonstrates how constrained neural networks when properly designed, can achieve sophisticated decision-making even in domains where their basic computational capabilities appear insufficient.