A Symmetric Strategy in Graph Avoidance Games

Abstract

In the graph avoidance game two players alternatingly color edges of a graph G in red and in blue respectively. The player who first creates a monochromatic subgraph isomorphic to a forbidden graph F loses. A symmetric strategy of the second player ensures that, independently of the first player's strategy, the blue and the red subgraph are isomorphic after every round of the game. We address the class of those graphs G that admit a symmetric strategy for all F and discuss relevant graph-theoretic and complexity issues. We also show examples when, though a symmetric strategy on G generally does not exist, it is still available for a particular F.