Tic-tac-toe doesn’t have much of a rep. Sure, it’s a simple, brief distraction from the monotony of existence, but once your 8-year-old self realizes that you can always force a draw, it loses its ...

On the beach, scratching marks in the sand with a stick, my 4-year-old son was already good enough to force a draw in noughts and crosses, also known as tic-tac-toe. In case there is anyone on the ...