The $3\times 3$ Solution to the Game of Tak

Abstract

We provide answers to natural combinatorial questions which arise from learning the rules to Tak. We solve the discarded cases of the $3\times 3$ game not previously considered by Joshua Achiam, showing that Player $1$ has a forced win from any starting position, including random ones. Diagrams for both his and our solutions are provided in the hopes of making the results more accessible.