Tic-tac-toe is a simple logic game for two. The action takes place on a field of 3 × 3 cells. The player's task is to be the first to draw a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line from his signs (crosses or zeroes). The game exists under various names on all continents; most people know the rules from childhood. The puzzle develops logical thinking and helps pass the time.
Game history
It seems that people invented tic-tac-toe at the dawn of civilization. On an ancient Egyptian tile dating from the XIV century BC. BC, archaeologists have discovered a scrawled game. In the Roman Empire, this game was called Terni lapilli. Games like tic-tac-toe are so ancient that it is difficult to establish where they originated. Probably, the puzzle came to us from the East - samurai gomoku and Chinese renju (連珠) have long been known there. It is also known that Vikings and filibusters also knew tic-tac-toe fun. In Russia, the game was called "Smekalka", in the USA - Tic-tac-toe.
The first mention in the press dates back to 1858, the British edition of Notes and Queries wrote about the game Noughts and crosses. In 1952, the OXO computer game was developed by Sandy Douglas, an English scientist from Cambridge. Thus, tic-tac-toe became one of the first video games.
Interesting Facts
- At one time, the game was so popular that by the beginning of the 20th century there were fourteen songs, three odes, six stories and more than two hundred articles with a mention of tic-tac-toe in Europe.
- Until 1918, the game in Russia was called Heriki-Oniki. The strange name has an explanation: the ancestors believed that they were playing with the letters "X" (her) and "O" (it). After the spelling reform, the changes happened by themselves.
Even a child can master tic-tac-toe, usually acquaintance with the game occurs in elementary grades. The fascination of adults with an uncomplicated puzzle can only be explained by the desire to distract from business or pass the time. Relax with tic-tac-toe!
