How to win at dots and boxes
The opening looks harmless: everyone draws lines where nothing is at stake. The game is decided the moment the safe lines run out. Whoever has counted ahead takes most of the board.
Don't draw the third side
A box with three sides is a gift: your opponent draws the fourth, takes it and moves again. As long as you can, draw only where your line does not leave a box with three sides.
Chains
As the board fills up, chains appear: rows of boxes with two sides each. Whoever draws the first line in a chain hands the whole chain to the opponent, who takes one box after another.
Once the safe lines are gone, somebody has to open a chain. Always open the shortest one.
The two-box sacrifice
The strongest move in the game. When your opponent opens a chain, you do not have to take all of it. Take everything except the last two boxes, and draw your final line so that both are left for your opponent at once.
They get two boxes, but then they must move again and open the next chain for you. You give up two and gain the whole next one. With long chains this almost always pays off.
Count who will have to open
- Count how many safe lines are left. Whoever draws the last one wins the tempo: the other player has to open the first chain.
- If the count is against you, change it early: split a long chain into two shorter ones, or sacrifice a short one.
- A chain of one or two boxes cannot be used for the sacrifice; those are simply given away. Long chains decide the game.
Against Dot
On easy Dot draws almost blind and will happily give you a third side. Medium gives nothing away and takes what it can, but it always takes whole chains, so it cannot handle the two-box sacrifice. Hard counts chains and makes the sacrifice itself: against it you need the tempo worked out before it does.
Not sure about something? See the rules.