Winning is almost impossible unless a major mistake is made by your opponent. But, if your opponent starts on an edge that is not a corner, you can win. There is an exact science on how to win tic tac toe if this is the case: Put your first letter in the center.

Even tic-tac-toe has luck in it, at least it does when you are new to the game. Children just learning will try different moves somewhat at random until they get a sense of what they are doing. Once they figure out a successful strategy, the luck disappears and tic-tac-toe ceases to be fun.