Is there a forced win in Connect Four by playing first or second?
I’d assume that, like in Naughts and Crosses, playing first gives a distinct advantage.
An advantage or a forced win?
In ordinary tic-tac-toe, a move never gives a new opportunity to opponent. This isn’t true of connect four.
Playing second against typical players it isn’t hard, believe-it-or-don’t, to get seven-in-a-row much of the time! Playing first, you’re likely to spend more mental effort just to get four-in-a-row.
Who has the forced win??
Connect four is a solved game. The first player can always win, assuming perfectly play. The first link includes the name of three programs that execute the perfect algorithm, plus a links at the bottom to other resources.
Hm, interesting. I wrote a Con4 game once, and found that I could pretty consistently beat it going second. But then, I never purported to have programmed it for perfect play, merely competent.
Sis does.
Ah yes, the Pretty Sneaky Gambit of 72. Who could forget that?