How to play tic tac toe

How to play

You need: paper and a pen, or one phone.

1. Draw a 3 by 3 grid. Decide who is X; X goes first.
2. Take turns putting your mark in any empty square.
3. Three of your marks in a straight line wins at once: a row, a column or one of the two diagonals.
4. If the grid is full and nobody has a line, the game is a draw. Swap who goes first and play again.

Rules

• One mark per turn, in an empty square only. You cannot move or remove a mark.
• There are 8 lines in all: 3 rows, 3 columns and 2 diagonals.
• X always moves first, so it is fair to alternate who plays X.
• A move that completes a line wins even if it is the ninth and last move.

Variants

Best of five

Play five games and alternate who starts; the first to three wins takes the match.

Misere

Making three in a row loses. It turns every instinct around and is harder to play well than it sounds.

Bigger boards

On a 4 by 4 grid, four in a row wins. Games run longer and need more planning.

Tips to play better

• As X, start in a corner. It gives O the most ways to go wrong; the only safe reply is the center.
• As O against a corner start, take the center. Against a center start, take a corner.
• Look for a fork: one move that makes two lines of two at once. Your rival can block only one.
• Before every move, check whether your rival has two in a line with the third square empty.

Read the full tic tac toe strategy guide