Another way to make play more 'realistic': break ties in the evaluation function according to the expected value for random players: https://github.com/darius/s

Another way to make play more 'realistic': break ties in the evaluation function according to the expected value for random players: https://github.com/darius/sturm/blob/master/tictactoe.py#L121 https://github.com/darius/sturm/blob/master/tictactoe.py#L12... (spock_play is what the OP called fatalistic, max_play is more like a human.)