Erdős problem 872

Erdős Problem 872, part (ii) (strong form): for every $\epsilon > 0$, the game length is at least $(1-\epsilon) \cdot n / 2$ for all sufficiently large $n$.

Status note: the forum thread (April-May 2026) records Shortener strategies giving $L(n) \leq (23/48 + o(1)) \cdot n$ (described in the thread as accepted as correct, with a Lean formalization in progress) and a claimed $L(n) \leq 0.19 \cdot n$, either of which would answer this question negatively under the Prolonger-first convention. Neither is published, so the statement is recorded here as the original Erdős question.