How to Prevent Losing in Tic Tac Toe

Follow the following rules to avoid losing:

• If your opponent starts by occupying the center position, respond by occupying a corner position
• If your opponent starts by occupying a corner position, respond by occupying the center position
• If your opponent starts by occupying a position on the edge, respond by occupying a position on the same row or column

If you move first in the game, it is quite difficult to lose. And if you can think two steps ahead, you will never lose.

Everyone knows that this game is hard to win, but you still can do so if your opponent is careless.

If you move first, follow the following steps when your opponent responds incorrectly:

• You start by occupying the center:
  
  
  1. 
     
     
• You start by occupying a corner:
  
  
  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
     
     
• You start by occupying an edge:
  
  
  1. 
  2. 
     
     

If the first move of your opponent is correct, you must not place your move which gives an inevitable draw, for example:

If you start at the center and your opponent responds at a corner:


You should not occupy A, B, C, D, E or F, otherwise a draw is the only natural outcome:


If you occupy G, you will have a small chance of winning if your opponent responds incorrectly:


From experience, starting at the corner will give you the best chance to win.

If you move second, it is almost impossible to win, but you still can do so if your opponent makes very strange moves.

I go first: I move in corner. Opponent should. If they play optimally, draw draw draw!
I go second: I move in center if not taken. Otherwise move in corner. If they play optimally, draw draw draw!

This can be explained to me 100 times and then some, but there's still a missing circuit in my brain that has forgotten how to win the simplest game of all. I must have had a tic taclabodomy performed on me at some point in my life. But hey, I kind of like playing Connect the Dots that you guys call Circle the Land. I manage to lose at that one too. Go figure.