# Why do zero-sum perfect information games satisfy the conditions of Von Neumann's theorem?

The Von Neumann's Minimax theorem gives the conditions that make the max-min inequality an equality.

I understand the max-min inequality, basically min(max(f))>=max(min(f)).

The Von Neumann's theorem states that, for the inequality to become an equality f(.,y) should always be convex for given y and f(x,.) should always be concave for given x, which also makes sense.

This video says that for a zero-sum perfect information game, the Von Neumann's theorem always holds, so that minimax always equal to maximin, which I did not quite follow.

Questions

• Why do zero-sum perfect information games satisfy the conditions of Von Neumann's theorem?

• If we relax the rules to be non-zero-sum or non-perfect information, how would the conditions change?

Here is one of many web pages devoted to the application of Minimax in Tic-Tac-Toe solving: Minimax Algorithm in Game Theory | Set 3 (Tic-Tac-Toe AI – Finding optimal move)