# connect four **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 12, 2011, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115 "2011-02-12T08:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115/1 "2011-02-12T08:34:53Z")
Is there a forced win in Connect Four by playing first or second? ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115/2 "2011-02-12T08:37:16Z")
I’d assume that, like in Naughts and Crosses, playing first gives a distinct advantage. ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115/3 "2011-02-12T08:40:05Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > I’d assume that, like in Naughts and Crosses, playing first gives a distinct advantage. An advantage or **a forced** win? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115/4 "2011-02-12T09:07:17Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > I’d assume that, like in Naughts and Crosses, playing first gives a distinct advantage. In ordinary tic-tac-toe, a move never [gives a new opportunity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zugzwang) 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. ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115/5 "2011-02-12T09:15:11Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > In ordinary tic-tac-toe, a move never [gives a new opportunity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zugzwang) 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?? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115/6 "2011-02-12T09:23:28Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > Who has the forced win?? > [@](#): > > The game was solved mathematically by James D. Allen (Oct 1, 1988), and independently by Victor Allis (Oct 16, 1988). **With perfect play, the first player can force a win by starting in the middle column.** By starting in the two adjacent columns, the first player allows the second player to reach a draw; by starting with the four outer columns, the first player allows the second player to force a win. > **[Connect Four](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connect_four)** > > Connect Four (also known as Connect 4, Four Up, Plot Four, Find Four, Captain's Mistress, Four in a Row, Drop Four, and in the Soviet Union, Gravitrips) is a game in which the players choose a color and then take turns dropping colored tokens into a six-row, seven-column vertically suspended grid. The pieces fall straight down, occupying the lowest available space within the column. The objective of the game is to be the first to form a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of four of one's own ... ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115/7 "2011-02-12T09:29:19Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > Is there a forced win in Connect Four by playing first or second? [Connect four](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connect_Four) is a [solved game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115/8 "2011-02-13T22:09:32Z")
[Obligatory Amazon link to the book that came out 11/2/10](http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-CONNECT-History-Strategy/dp/1402756216/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297634905&sr=8-1) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115/9 "2011-02-14T02:19:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115/10 "2011-02-14T03:00:53Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > Who has the forced win?? Sis does. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connect-four/571115/11 "2011-02-14T04:08:39Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > Sis does. Ah yes, the Pretty Sneaky Gambit of 72. Who could forget that?