These 5 games are revealing of Miriam’s knowledge and ignorance both. Game 2 reveals more of my failings than I am happy to admit, but its contrast with game 3 permits a central revelation of her thinking about tic-tac-toe. These two together show by how much good fortune (when it occurs) is preferable to good planning. Throughout this session I prompted Miriam to think out loud and make predictions, hoping that she would thereby illuminate her representation of the game. The consequence is evidence how well articulated is her knowledge of what she does in specific cases.

Game 1: Miriam moves first (letters)

         A | 3 | C    
           | 2 | D    
         1 |   | B 

Game 2: Bob moves first (numbers)

After Miriam’s center response, I realized I was myself so unfamiliar with games of this opening I didn’t have any specific plan to follow. I was confused and not wanting to keep Miriam waiting, moved aimlessly at 2. The game thus becomes pointless but does exhibit Miriam’s defensive play without confusion by any aggressive objective (hers or mine).

         c  | 2 | b    
         1  | a | 5    
         3  | d | 4  

Game 3: Miriam moves first in the center

         3 | D1 | 2    
         1 | A  |
         B | D2 | C  

Miriam became angry when I argued her victory ‘didn’t count’ since I had to show it to her.

Game 4: Bob moves first

This game shows Miriam’s confusion of move 2 in a game of form VII-B (the only safe response to a corner opening) with move 1 of game form IV (cf. Learning: Tic-tac-toe ). This is an explicit example of configuration dominating to the exclusion of serial information.

         1 |    |     
         b | a2 |     
         2 | a1 |   

Game 5: Bob moves first (restarting game 4 with his opening marker at 1 and Miriam’s at a1)
RESET the figure in a sensible fashion

         1 |   | b3          1 |   | b3   
           | a1|               | 3 |  
         b2| b1| 2           a2|   | 2 

When I move 3 in the space just vacated, Miriam sulks and we give up tic-tac-toe for another game.

Relevance
Miriam exhibits her extensive and flexible command of games of the form of game 1. Her comment, after the opening two moves of game 3, that it will probably be the same as game 2 renders explicit the absence from her thinking of the concept of move order variations as significant in tic-tac-toe. I consider it staggering that anyone could play so well as Miriam does and yet not have a well formulated idea of opening advantage. Game 3 also appears to show a game whose play has (may be interpreted as having) degenerated to a serial procedure with loss of an original, configuration-oriented forking objective. Game 4 shows strong confusion between the 2 move of game VII-B and 1 of game IV. These games permitted no show of table-turning because Bob never clearly won any games.