[ Crosspost trimmed. ]

samsloan wrote:
One factor to be considered is that the number of possible moves in
a backgammon games is infinite. The players could easily just
keeping hitting each other to infinity.

The number of possible chess games, while very large, is not
infinite. After a few billion moves the 50-move rule becomes a
factor.

No, the number of possible chess games is infinite, since claiming a
draw under the fifty move rule or threefold repetition is not
mandatory. For analytical purposes, one can consider the game to be
finite, on the assumption that a player who can't win will always
claim the draw as soon as he can and that a player who can win will
never offer a repetition or a fifty-move draw.


Dave.

--
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www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ child's toy but it's covered in goo!