15
votes
Accepted
10
votes
Accepted
Optimal play for 2 by 2 dots and boxes
Going first, you should be able to force a win.
Using @kaine's terminology:
box - an area on the board that can be made into a square
square - a box of 4 lines
three - a box of three lines which ...
- 8,811
10
votes
Accepted
9
votes
Accepted
5
votes
Accepted
Dots and Boxes- Best Move in Given Position
Since there were exactly 32 empty spaces, I tried to push the ability of my computer and enumerate the best possible move starting from all $2^{32}$ states. For each state, the code finds the maximum ...
- 2,438
4
votes
Accepted
4
votes
Dots and Boxes- Best Move in Given Position
This is my first experience with Dots and Boxes, so please be kind if I am making some terrible mistakes. Per the wikipedia link:
An expert player tries to force their opponent to be the one to ...
- 315
4
votes
Dots and Boxes- Best Move in Given Position
Most likely you wish to avoid connecting any dots that would allow your opponent (computer) to place a box. As such, you're left with individually choosing one of the following possibilities (marked ...
- 141
4
votes
Accepted
What's a good Boxes Strategy?
The game Boxes is another form of the game "Dots and Lines" or "Dots and Boxes", where the strategy is understood as a game of early control. The idea is to force the opponent into a condition to draw ...
- 1,022
3
votes
Optimal play for 2 by 2 dots and boxes
Not as interesting as a manual analysis, but here is a brute-force solver, written in Python. (Warning, CPU intensive for about two minutes)
...
- 6,329
3
votes
Dots and Boxes- Best Move in Given Position
The goal of dots and boxes is to be the person that makes the last (and biggest) group of boxes. To that end, you need to figure out how many regions there are and which one is smallest.
Here are ...
- 9,780
3
votes
Accepted
Dots and Boxes Part 2- Best Move in Given Position
The player can't win. Analysis to follow.
Here I've marked the "safe" moves in blue. We will call them 1, 2, and 3 counter-clockwise starting from the left. The sacrifices I have marked in green. ...
- 315
2
votes
Dots and Boxes- Best Move in Given Position
This is an unwinnable position if the computer plays perfectly.
I need an even number of chains
I am player one, as an even number of moves has been made, and there are an even number of dots.
(...
- 530
2
votes
Optimal play for 2 by 2 dots and boxes
The key to perfect play in this game seems to be the number of lines in the center cross at the end of turn 6! Warnig I"ve not taken the time to put my 39 drawings into the computer so this is a map ...
- 8,992
1
vote
Reverse dots and boxes, swastika edition
Second player wins.
After that,
Then,
On first player's second turn,
In the end,
Alternately,
- 7,323
1
vote
Dots and Boxes Part 2- Best Move in Given Position
The best you can win is 10 boxes. The computer always wins by getting at least 15 boxes.
In this image, playing any of the red edges gives you 10 boxes if the computer plays optimally. If you play ...
- 2,438
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