Tic-Tac-Toe: Minimax fails to choose winning move in specific sequenc

[loftyyyy]

Web version: https://loftyyyy.github.io/TicTacWeb/

Description
When playing the following move sequence:

1 → 3 → 9 → 8

the minimax algorithm incorrectly blocks instead of winning.
Specifically, it places its move on cell 7 instead of cell 4, which would result in an immediate win.

Expected Behavior
The AI should recognize the winning opportunity and place its move on cell 4 to win the game.

Actual Behavior
The AI chooses cell 7, blocking the opponent rather than taking the win.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start a new Tic-Tac-Toe game.

2. Play the following sequence of moves:

   • Player: 1
   • AI: (auto)
   • Player: 3
   • AI: (auto)
   • Player: 9
   • AI: (auto)
   • Player: 8

3. Observe that the AI selects cell 7 instead of the winning cell 4.

Possible Cause

• The evaluation or scoring function might be prioritizing blocking moves over winning moves.
• The minimax recursion may not properly return the highest evaluated score for immediate wins.

[psukhmeet]

hii.. i want to see your code and help to make the ai able to find the correct cell to win.. but honestly i am new on github as well as in java so can you little help to find the source code and otherthings

[loftyyyy]

hii.. i want to see your code and help to make the ai able to find the correct cell to win.. but honestly i am new on github as well as in java so can you little help to find the source code and otherthings

Hey there, the logic is mainly found in the minimax.java file. So if you kindly go to https://github.com/loftyyyy/TicTacToe-MinimaxAlgorithm/blob/main/src/main/java/org/example/Minimax.java you will find the source code of the logic used on the algorithm

[AlexandrAnatoliev]

I installed the program on my computer, but the bug doesn't reproduce. It's possible the bug is only in the web version.

[SimpleChap]

Hey @loftyyyy were you able to fix it? if not i want to try and take a look at it?

[loftyyyy]

I installed the program on my computer, but the bug doesn't reproduce. It's possible the bug is only in the web version.

You're right, the issue only exists in the web version. I used the same logic from the java version to the the web but I'll give it to you guys to fix

[loftyyyy]

Hey @loftyyyy were you able to fix it? if not i want to try and take a look at it?

No, the issue was still not fixed. I'll close this issue as it doesn't apply here but to the web version. I'll open up a new issue from the repository where I implemented the web version of this game. Thanks to @AlexandrAnatoliev who went and found that the issue was only present in the web version. loftyyyy/TicTacWeb#1

[AlexandrAnatoliev]

Good luck, @loftyyyy.