Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe

Destiny

Player O has learned from last month's mistake, and does not intend to let X turn the tables on her any more. Let's see what she does...

Move		X		O
1		3 - 8		8 >3
3		7 - 9		7 - 5
5		6 - 1		7 - 1
7		4 - 5		7 - 2
9		?

O takes early advantage of X's attempt to be flexible; she takes the corner and leaves him on the side, always a weak position in classical tic-tac-toe (but not necessarily a bad thing in Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe). By move 5, X has a slight advantage: four classical games with two-rows and one with a double two-row, while O has four games with two-rows. But O keeps frustrating X's efforts, and by move 8 she has wins in all seven remaining classical games, while he still has just four games with two-rows. X has 21 possibilities for move 9; can he turn the tables on O again?

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Reversal of Fortune

Last month's challenge was to find a way for X to turn the tables on O again. By move 8, X thought he had defeated O, and had seen her turn the tables. It turns out that X has three moves that will let him win the game (barely). All three possibilities for move 9 end the game with two wins, but X's is earlier, so the score is 1 to ½.

Move   X   O 1   4 - 7   1 - 3 3   5 - 9   2 - 7 5   5 - 8   5 - 7 7   2 - 6   3 >1 9   4 - 8

X can win (by a half-point) if he moves in squares 4 and 8. He also has two other possibilities for winning on move 9; can you find them?.