Suppose actors A and B compete for some prize (market share; winning an election; access to an ideal mate; etc). Actor A makes a move that gets them closer to the prize; in response, Actor B will craft a response/counter-move. I am looking for anecdotes and examples of counter-moves that are different in kind/character from the initial moves of actor A and therefore take by surprise actor A.
Think Pepsi Cola versus Coca Cola or Clinton versus Trump or Russia versus Ukraine or whatever other competitive situations ranging from sports, to business, to military affairs, to elections, to mating, etc.
The actors don't need to be famous/well-known. The important thing is for the counter-move to be really striking / juicy / jaw-dropping (worthy of story telling).
can go through some peer reviewed articles
ONE-SIDED UNCERTAINTY AND DELAY
IN REPUTATIONAL BARGAINING
MOVEMENT AND COUNTERMOVEMENT:
LOOSELY COUPLED CONFLICT
Dear Dragos, I think that your examples are good and realistic. But I think that asymmetric surprise moves are not so common in economic literature. Simply because rationality assumption requires understanding the game structure with all probability distributions by all parties in advance. The moves might be asymmetric and not simultaneous (leader-follower game), but they are not by surprise.
In real games we often have asymmetry. For example, Thomas Saati in "Mathematical Models of Arms Control and Disarmament", ISBN 0-471-74810-2, John Wiley (1968) has considered different sequence of actions by different sides, including asymmetric strategies. But can we have a model of surprise? Once it is written, it is no longer a surprise. It happens however in real life, but then we have to depart from full rationality assumption in the modelling. Then it is no longer neoclassical economics.
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