Editing Angel problem (section)

=== Kloster's 2-angel proof ===

Oddvar Kloster discovered a constructive algorithm to solve the problem with a 2-angel. This algorithm is quite simple and also optimal, since, as noted above, the devil has a winning strategy against a 1-angel.

We start out by drawing a vertical line immediately to the left of the angel's starting position, down to <math>y = -\infty</math> and up to <math>y = \infty</math>. This line represents the path the angel will take, which will be updated after each of the devil's moves, and partitions the board's squares into a "left set" and a "right set." Once a square becomes part of the left set, it will remain so for the remainder of the game, and the angel will not make any future moves to any of these squares. Every time the devil blocks off a new square, we search over all possible modifications to the path such that we move one or more squares in the right set which the devil has blocked off into the left set. We will only do this if the path increases in length by no more than twice the number of blocked squares moved into the left set. Of such qualifying paths, we choose one that moves the greatest number of blocked off squares into the left set. The angel then makes two steps along this path, keeping the path to its left when moving in the forward direction (so if the devil were not blocking off squares, the angel would travel north indefinitely). Note that when going clockwise around a corner, the angel will not move for one step, because the two segments touching the corner have the same square to their right.