I believe that your fate is set from the first move, assuming that your opponent plays perfectly, which he does.

I could be wrong, but I believe that the only way to win is to get him to move first. Let's call the row of three ``row A'', the row of four ``row B'', etc.

He will always take three from row C. You take all three from row A. He will take one from row C, leaving 1. You take one from row D. He will take two from row D. Take two from row B. He will take another one from row B. Take two from row D, leaving three rows of one. He'll take one, you take another, and that's the only remaining pearl.

At each step, every move made by your opponent is the only one that doesn't allow defeat within two moves.

It's a very annoying game. There's only one possible way to win if your opponent plays correctly. It's like Tic-Tac-Toe, except ties aren't possible. Add to that the amount of time that the Flash interface wastes, and it becomes almost infinitely annoying.