I found this mathematical game in my stocking! But you don’t need to go to the shops you play it, you can play on the computer on the archimedes lab site. If you master the maths behind it it is one of those games that you can always win!
It is a game for two people. To play just use 12 matchsticks or counters- recycled bottle tops are ideal! Place them in three lines, one with 3 counters, one with 4 and one with 5. Now take it in turns to take counters away. You can only take from one line, but you can take as many you like from that line. The winner is the player to take the last counter.
To understand how to win this game you need to know a little about the Binary number system