The Math of Tic-Tac-Toe

Classic tic-tac-toe is a solved game with 26,830 possible games and a guaranteed draw under perfect play. There Not There changes the math entirely.

Because pieces fade, the state space is no longer bounded by nine moves. The game tree branches differently and forces continuous, dynamic strategy.

This page explores combinatorics, symmetry classes, and how solvers approach the fading-moves variant.