How to win at tic-tac-toe (or at least never lose)

Open in a corner, not the centre

Most people open in the centre because it touches the most lines. It is a fine move, but a corner is the better practical choice: it gives your opponent only one safe reply (the centre). Every other reply loses against correct play, and most players do not find the centre.

If you move second and your opponent takes the centre, take a corner. If they take a corner, take the centre. Those two replies keep you safe in every line.

Win by making two threats at once

You almost never win because your opponent failed to spot one line. You win because you created two lines at the same time — a fork. Your opponent can only block one, so the other one scores.

Two opposite corners plus the centre is the classic fork shape. So is a corner plus the two edges beside it. When you are choosing between two decent moves, pick the one that sets up a second line rather than the one that just extends the line you already have.

The blocking order that never fails

On every turn, run down this list and play the first move that applies:

• Can I complete three in a row? Play it.
• Can my opponent complete three next turn? Block it.
• Can I create a fork — two lines with two of my marks and an empty third? Play it.
• Can my opponent create a fork? Block that square, or force them to defend by making a threat of your own.
• Take the centre if it is free.
• Take a corner opposite one of your opponent's marks.
• Take any free corner, then any free edge.

Force the mistake instead of waiting for it

Against a good player, a draw is the ceiling, so your job becomes creating chances for them to slip. Play moves that carry a threat, so they must respond instead of building their own shape. A player who spends every turn blocking eventually blocks the wrong square.

In SuperTac you can also change the game itself. Bump the board to 4×4 or 5×5, or raise the number in a row you need, and the perfect-play draw disappears — there is real strategy again.