In game theory, a “no-win” situation is one in which no player benefits from any outcome. This may be because of any or all of the following:

• Unavoidable or unforeseeable circumstances causing the situation to change after decisions have been made
• Zugzwang, as in chess, when any move a player chooses makes him worse off than before
• A situation in which the player has to accomplish two mutually dependent tasks each of which must be completed before the other or that are mutually exclusive (a Catch-22)^[1]
• Ignorance of other players’ actions, meaning the best decision for all differs from that for any one player (as in the Prisoner’s Dilemma).