Implementing minimax algorithm for tic-tac-toe

Question

I am trying to implement the minimax algorithm for a tic-tac-toe game where both the players are human and each time computer suggests an optimal move using the minimax algorithm. But it is not giving the right suggestion every time. For example: it does not gives the right suggestion for the following scenario: player X : 1 player O : 2 player X : 5. Here is my code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <algorithm>  
#include <string>
using namespace std;

#define inf 1<<20
int posmax, posmin;
char board[15];

void print_board()
{
    int i;
    for (i = 1; i <= 9; i++)
    {   
        printf("%c ",board[i]);
        if (i % 3 == 0)
            printf("\n");
    }
    printf("\n");
}

int check_win(char board[])
{
    if ((board[1] == 'X' && board[2] == 'X' && board[3] == 'X') ||
        (board[4] == 'X' && board[5] == 'X' && board[6] == 'X') ||
        (board[7] == 'X' && board[8] == 'X' && board[9] == 'X') ||
        (board[1] == 'X' && board[4] == 'X' && board[7] == 'X') ||
        (board[2] == 'X' && board[5] == 'X' && board[8] == 'X') ||
        (board[3] == 'X' && board[6] == 'X' && board[9] == 'X') ||
        (board[1] == 'X' && board[5] == 'X' && board[9] == 'X') ||
        (board[3] == 'X' && board[5] == 'X' && board[7] == 'X'))
    {
        return 1;
    }
    else if((board[1] == 'O' && board[2] == 'O' && board[3] == 'O') ||
            (board[4] == 'O' && board[5] == 'O' && board[6] == 'O') ||
            (board[7] == 'O' && board[8] == 'O' && board[9] == 'O') ||
            (board[1] == 'O' && board[4] == 'O' && board[7] == 'O') ||
            (board[2] == 'O' && board[5] == 'O' && board[8] == 'O') ||
            (board[3] == 'O' && board[6] == 'O' && board[9] == 'O') ||
            (board[1] == 'O' && board[5] == 'O' && board[9] == 'O') ||
            (board[3] == 'O' && board[5] == 'O' && board[7] == 'O'))
    {
        return -1;
    }
    else return 0;
}

int check_draw(char board[])
{
    if ((check_win(board) == 0) && (board[1] != '_') && (board[2] != '_') &&
        (board[3] != '_') && (board[4] != '_') && (board[5] != '_') &&
        (board[6] != '_') && (board[7] != '_') && (board[8] != '_') &&
        (board[9] != '_'))
    {
        return 1;
    }
    else return 0;
}

int minimax(int player, char board[], int n)
{
    int i, res, j;

    int max = -inf;
    int min = inf;

    int chk = check_win(board);
    if (chk == 1)
        return 1;
    else if (chk == (-1))
        return -1;
    else if (chk = check_draw(board))
        return 0;

    for (i = 1; i <= 9; i++)
    {
        if(board[i] == '_')
        {
            if(player == 2)  
            {
                board[i] = 'O';
                res = minimax(1, board, n + 1);

                board[i] = '_';
                if(res < min)
                {
                    min = res;
                    if (n == 0)
                        posmin = i;
                }
            }
            else if (player == 1)
            {
                board[i] = 'X';
                res = minimax(2, board, n + 1);
                board[i] = '_';
                if (res > max)
                {
                    max = res;
                    if (n == 0)
                        posmax = i;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    if (player == 1)
        return max;
    else return min;    
}


// 1 is X, 2 is O
int main()
{
    int i, j, input, opt;

    for(i = 1; i <= 9; i++)
        board[i] = '_';

    printf("Board:\n");
    print_board();

    for(i = 1; i <= 9; i++)
    {
        if (i % 2 == 0)
            printf("Player O give input:\n");
        else 
            printf("Player X give input:\n");

        scanf("%d", &input);
        if (i % 2 != 0)
            board[input] = 'X';
        else
            board[input] = 'O';

        printf("Board:\n");
        print_board();

        int chk = check_win(board);
        if (chk == 1)
        {
            printf("Player X wins!\n");
            break;
        }
        else if (chk == -1)
        {
            printf("Player O wins!\n");
            break;
        }
        else if ((chk == 0) && (i != 9))
        {
            posmax = -1;
            posmin = -1;
            if(i % 2 == 0)
            {
                opt = minimax(1, board, 0);
                printf("Optimal move for player X is %d\n", posmax);
            }
            else 
            {
            opt = minimax(2, board, 0);
            printf("Optimal move for player O is %d\n", posmin);
            }
        }
        else 
            printf("The game is tied!\n");
    }
    return 0;
}

"The only winning move is not to play." -- Joshua (aka WOPR) — jxh
What have you narrowed the problem down to? Did you do any debugging at all? — Bart
It's pretty nice code, nothing obviously wrong. For what sequence of moves do you get an error? — john
For the scenario you gave, what move do you expect the algorithm should suggest? In any case, the game is lost for player O. The suggested move 3 has the same score as the expected move 9, they are (without taking depth into account) identical. — Christian Ammer

Christian Ammer Christian Ammer · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-30T21:49:37

In my opinion your program does not give wrong suggestions. Minimax calculates the score of a move if both players are playing optimal. The score in your case can be +1, -1 and 0, therefore if a game e.g. is inevitable lost, it does not make a difference at which depth it is lost. Given the following gamestate

X O _
X _ _
_ _ _

and optimal play of player X, it does not matter where player O makes his move (he loses in either case):

After O plays 7, X plays 5, O plays 6, X plays 8 --> X wins
After O plays 3, X plays 7 --> X wins

Player X wins. Move 7 gives the same score as move 3 and all other playable moves. If you like to make your algorithm give the move suggestion 7 for this example, you have to include the game-depth into your evaluation function. You can do this by changing the return values of your function to following:

int chk = check_win(board);
if (chk == 1)
    return (10 - n);
else if (chk == (-1))
    return -(10 - n);
else if (chk = check_draw(board))
    return 0;

Implementing minimax algorithm for tic-tac-toe

4 Answers