What are the applications of centipede games in reality? what do you think?

The centipede game is very simple. I can give an example of practical application. The tripartite confrontation and Sun-Liu alliance in history are the most typical centipede games. The game background of Sun-Liu Alliance is as follows: In 208 AD, Liu Bei and Sun Quan formed an alliance against Cao Cao. The longer the alliance lasts, the better for Sun and Liu. However, the alliance between Sun and Liu will not last long, and one of the controversial issues is Jingzhou. Both Sun Quan and Liu Bei can choose to tear their faces and take Jingzhou directly, which will immediately break the alliance; They can also choose to shelve the dispute and let the alliance continue. But if Liu Bei manages in Jingzhou for a long time, Sun Quan will have no chance to return to Jingzhou. We assume that if the two sides have been cooperating, Sun Quan will never return to Jingzhou after 20 years (this time is changed to 30 years, and 40 years will not affect the conclusion). At this time, player Sun Quan thought, It's a pity that I won't go back to Jingzhou after 20 years. Then I simply tore my face at 19 and directly robbed Jingzhou. The alliance between Sun and Liu lasted 19 years, which was enough to defeat Wei. Another player, Liu Bei, also thought about it. I feel that Sun Quan will definitely lose his face in 19, so why don't I do it first in 18? 18 alliance time is enough to beat Wei. Sun Quan thought again. I feel that Liu Bei will definitely attack first at 18, so why don't I face it directly at 17? 17 alliance time is enough to beat Wei. Keep playing like this. Until Sun Quan thought about it, I thought it would take Sun Liu Alliance at least 1 1 year to remove Cao Cao's threat. At least 1 1 years ago, Liu Bei dared not turn against me. 1 1 As soon as the year came, I immediately turned against Lv Meng to take Jingzhou. Because Liu Bei is the dominant player in the game (actually controlling Jingzhou), his actions must be more conservative than Sun Quan's. He believes that the Sun-Liu alliance needs to be maintained for at least 13 or 14 years, and only by completely winning Xiangfan can the old threat be lifted. So I decided to turn my back on 14. Because Sun Quan was more radical, he finally took the lead and directly won Jingzhou in AD 2 19. The Sun-Liu alliance broke down and both sides lost. Let Wei, who has not lost his vitality, take advantage of it. In fact, the optimal decision of Sun-Liu Alliance is that both sides jointly destroy the strongest Wei State first, and then fight it out. However, Sun Quan could not accept this arrangement, because the state of Wei was destroyed and Jingzhou would definitely not get it back. In this way, the odds of competing with Liu Bei are very small. This led to the emergence of centipede games. In the end, Sun Quan was helpless, and when the time was not ripe, he risked destroying Sun Liu's alliance and seizing Jingzhou. The centipede game is a game in which two partners act first. In the case of not losing money, the first person to tear his face takes advantage. Because both sides are very eager to surpass them, there is only one possible outcome in this game. Draw a logical diagram like a centipede, like this; In other words, in the game of the Three Kingdoms, the tragedy of Jingzhou is doomed, and Wei is most likely to have the last laugh. If you are Sun Quan, you will find that you have no choice but to get Jingzhou back before Liu Bei. You will always be a stepping stone to Liu Bei. If you are Liu Bei, you will find that you have to borrow Jingzhou, otherwise you will become Sun Quan in the game. In other words, in the game of the Three Kingdoms, the tragedy of Jingzhou is doomed, and Wei is most likely to have the last laugh. If you are Sun Quan, you will find that you have no choice but to get Jingzhou back before Liu Bei. You will always be a stepping stone to Liu Bei. If you are Liu Bei, you will find that you have to borrow Jingzhou, otherwise you will become Sun Quan in the game. In addition, do you know why I was the only one who cited real examples in this answer, while other respondents cited fictional examples such as pirates sharing gold coins? Because the example of the Three Kingdoms I cited is a centipede game with incomplete information, which means that Liu Bei and Sun Quan don't know each other's bottom line. In order to make it easier for beginners to understand, the game theory textbooks all use complete information to talk about the centipede game, which collapsed at the beginning because both sides would never agree to participate in this game. For example, if Liu Bei knew from the beginning that Sun Quan's 1 1 would be torn, and his card was 14, then the game would collapse in the negotiation stage. From the beginning, there will be no such thing as the Sun-Liu Alliance.