The game of chicken is a game theory set up that typically describes two players heading toward each other. If the players continue on the same path, they bump into each other; if one swerves out of the way and other doesn't, the swerver "loses" and is labeled the chicken, while the second, implicitly braver player, wins.
As of 2017, the U.S. has an inventory of 6,800 nuclear warheads; of these, 2,800 are retired and awaiting dismantlement and 4,018 are part of the U.S. stockpile.
The exact number of nuclear warheads Russia has is a state secret and is therefore a matter of guesswork. The Federation of American Scientists estimates that Russia possesses 4,300 nuclear warheads, while the U.S. has 4,000; Russia has 1,950 active strategic nuclear warheads, compared with the U.S. having 1,650.
Nuclear explosions produce both immediate and delayed destructive effects. Blast, thermal radiation, and prompt ionizing radiation cause significant destruction within seconds or minutes of a nuclear detonation. The delayed effects, such as radioactive fallout and other environmental effects, inflict damage over an extended period ranging from hours to years. A 1 megaton nuclear bomb creates a firestorm that can cover 100 square miles. A 20 megaton blast's firestorm can cover nearly 2500 square miles. The Tsar Bomba from Russia has a theoretical maximum yield of 100 megatons.
