Consider a knockout tennis tournament.
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Consider a knockout tennis tournament. Every game is played between 2 players. If the player loses a match, then he/she gets knocked out of the tournament. What are the minimum number of matches required to find the champion of the tournament if total player count is 500?
Show answer & explanation
In a single-elimination knockout tournament, each match eliminates exactly one player. To leave 1 champion from 500 players, 499 matches must be played.
Step-by-step Derivation:
Step 1: Every match produces exactly one loser who is knocked out.
Step 2: The champion is the only player who remains undefeated.
Step 3: Number of eliminations needed = 500 - 1 = 499.
Step 4: Therefore, exactly 499 matches are required.