Before you leave, I have to share the secret with you. There is nothing difficult in Tic Tac Toe, but there's a simple ploy to make you a winner in life, well, at least in Tic Tac Toe. If you go first, choose any corner, then if your opponent chooses any square other than the center, you MUST win if you know the right steps. You must make sure you *force* your opponent to side boxes ... and at the same time you'll capture the three corners ... "by golly" and then you win ... it's as easy as that.

And if you go second, and your opponent, the smart-ass, first took a corner, make SURE you go in the center, then the opponent's only way to win is to go to his/her opposite corner ... And having done so, you stay away from the third corner or the opponent takes the fourth and wins ... Your first move must be to a side box, then forcing your opponent to the opposite side causing a draw ... (the best you can do when going second) ... Now you're an expert Tic Tac Toe player. How about mental Tic Tac Toe, using the numbers 1 to 9, and no paper - and no charge for the lesson.

An interesting variation of this is "mental tic tac toe" where you assign each box a number 1-9, decide who has x and who has y, decide who goes first, and calling out your move with a number. It's easy once you get the knack of it.