How to make comp be clever

Question

hi
i have a static evaluation method which looks for the best algo for a comp for the game noughts and crosses: Does anybody have a better algo??
public Coords requestMove(Umpire theUmpire, GameBoard position)
    int big = -100;
    Coords c =null;
    for(int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
      for(int j = 0; j<3; j++)
     GameBoard gb =  position.copy();
         if (gb.getBoard().isBlank(i, j))
       gb.reportMove(i, j);
         int score = staticEval(gb);
         if((gb.isXMove() && score>big) || (!gb.isXMove() && score < big) || c == null)
           big = score;
            c = new Coords(i,j);
     System.out.println(c);
    return c;

Answer 1

I did a Tic-Tac-Toe game for a University assignment. The algorithm for ensuring the user never wins is quite simple. I can't remember it off the top of my head, but there are a few starting points. From what I can remember, this can always be achieved within the first three moves. You should play with yourself (ahem!) to find this out. You need to 'play' the following situations:
i) Player has a winning move on their next go
ii) Player starts in a corner.
iii) Player starts in the middle.
iv) Player starts elsewhere.
Hope this helps.