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Pure equilibria when one player wants distance

Question

Two players each choose a real number from [0,1][0,1] at the same time. Player 1 receives the absolute difference between the two numbers, and Player 2 pays that same amount (a zero-sum game). How many Nash equilibria in pure strategies does this game have?

Short answer

00. Player 2's only best reply is to copy Player 1's number, giving payoff 0, but whenever the numbers are equal Player 1 can deviate to a farther point and earn something positive. So no pair of pure choices is stable.

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