<p>The game is solved. The &quot;tactic&quot; for playing the losing side is to hope the other player makes a mistake. With perfect play, there are no moves that are better than others for the losing side : they all lose.</p>
<p>If the winning-side player fails to play optimally, then your move should attempt to restore the position to one it could have reached if you had been the winning-side all along.</p>
<p>For instance, on a 3x3, if your opponent goes first and takes a side square instead of the center, then you should take the 2x1 region of the center and the opposite side square.</p>
<p>Note though that the winning-side player has other equally-winning moves beyond what the winning algorithm prescribes, it's just that the algorithm reduces it to a sufficient move. On a 3x3, for instance, the first player could take the whole center row and still be winning.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-30T12:33:47.693Z
2021-01-30T20:13:30.037Z
2021-01-30T20:13:30.037Z
L. Scott Johnson
<p>What I've found is:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>First Player If N Is Odd (non-misere): The player takes the center
piece and symmetrically imitates every one of the opponent's moves.</p>
<p>Second Player If N Is Even (non-misere): Player copies opponent's
moves symmetrically. You will eventually take the last piece and win.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But what should I do when N is even and I go first, or when I go second and N is odd?</p>
<p>My best guess is I should count amount of rectangles and alone &quot;chips&quot; and, based on that, make moves, but the problem is that I'm not sure that this will work and maybe you have a better strategy for this game.</p>

<tactics>
What's the tactics for Tac Tix?
Ignatij
# What's the tactics for Tac Tix?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-01-30)

What I've found is:

> First Player If N Is Odd (non-misere): The player takes the center
> piece and symmetrically imitates every one of the opponent's moves.
>
> Second Player If N Is Even (non-misere): Player copies opponent's
> moves symmetrically. You will eventually take the last piece and win.

But what should I do when N is even and I go first, or when I go second and N is odd?

My best guess is I should count amount of rectangles and alone "chips" and, based on that, make moves, but the problem is that I'm not sure that this will work and maybe you have a better strategy for this game.

**Tags:** tactics


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-01-30. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

The game is solved. The "tactic" for playing the losing side is to hope the other player makes a mistake. With perfect play, there are no moves that are better than others for the losing side : they all lose.

If the winning-side player fails to play optimally, then your move should attempt to restore the position to one it could have reached if you had been the winning-side all along.

For instance, on a 3x3, if your opponent goes first and takes a side square instead of the center, then you should take the 2x1 region of the center and the opposite side square.

Note though that the winning-side player has other equally-winning moves beyond what the winning algorithm prescribes, it's just that the algorithm reduces it to a sufficient move. On a 3x3, for instance, the first player could take the whole center row and still be winning.


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