Tian Ji

Tian Ji (Chinese: 田忌; pinyin: Tián Jì), courtesy name Qi (齐), was a military general of the Qi state during the early Warring States period (4th century BC) of Chinese history.

Tian Ji met Sun Bin and recommended him to King Wei of Qi as a military strategist.

Sun Bin was appointed as commander-in-chief of the Qi army this time, with Tian Ji as his deputy.

The Qi army scored a major victory in the ensuing Battle of Maling in 342 BC, which culminated in a crushing defeat for Wei and the death of Pang Juan.

Unable to clear his name, Tian fled from Qi and sought refuge in the State of Chu.

Tian Ji’s Horse Racing Strategy originated from a well-known ancient Chinese story from The Records of the Grand Historian.

In the original story, Tian Ji was aware of the king’s strategy and changed the sequence of his horse to win the game.

The hypothesis of the original story is that Tian Ji knew the strategy that the King of Qi would choose.

For Tian Ji, his dominant strategy is also to choose randomly since the probability for the king of Qi to win is 5/6.