Game 74: Tic Tac Chec



Well, we're back to empty-nesting, so it was time for a 2-player game, and we pulled this one off the shelf.  It's a pretty clever blending of chess and tic-tac-toe.  The rules say it can be played in as fast as 3 minutes, but partway through our first game I was wondering if either of us would find a win-position.  Eventually we did.  We played best of three, and it was amazing how each time one of us did get into a position where it was impossible for the other to stop a win.  I'm still not sure if we would achieve a 3-minute game if we weren't as smart (and therefore didn't see something coming) or if it's the case that we're not smart enough to force a win earlier on.
 Here are the pieces, ready to go, and then a few moves in.
 I won the first game - light pieces on the diagonal.
 David won the second game.
 I learned on the third game that I need to keep my mouth shut!  He was one move away from winning, so I grabbed the camera to take a picture, but he hadn't seen his winning move until I pointed it out!  Oops!  He may have found it anyway, but from now on I know to keep my mouth shut!  (He was thinking he needed to block me instead of realizing he could just put his piece where it would give him the win.)
 I picked this game up at a math conference back in April 1999, back when math local math conferences had more vendors and a wider variety of vendors, including game designers.  I don't remember specifics of my conversation with him (20 years later!), but I do remember enjoying the conversation, and I still think it's cool to have the designer's signature on the directions for the game.  David and I are going to keep this one downstairs and available as one of our empty-nester games.

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