How to Win at Connect Four — Complete Strategy Guide
Connect Four was solved in 1988, first by James Dow Allen and independently a few weeks later by Victor Allis. With perfect play the first player always wins, provided they start in the centre column. But perfect play means calculation no human can do at the table. Here’s the simplified strategy that wins far more games against humans.
The short version of how to win at Connect Four: take the centre column, build two threats at once so your opponent can only block one, place your threats on the rows that suit your turn order, and in the endgame count which columns are safe to play.
Key takeaways
- The centre column touches the most winning lines, so open there and keep contesting it.
- Most games are won by a double threat: two winning cells your opponent cannot both block.
- The first player wants threats on odd rows; the second player wants them on even rows.
- Late in the game, a column you cannot afford to play in is as important as a column you want.
The rules in 30 seconds
Two players take turns dropping a disc into one of seven columns. The disc falls to the lowest empty cell. The first player to line up four of their own discs horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins. If all 42 cells fill with no four-in-a-row, the game is a draw.
Gravity is what makes the game interesting. You can only ever claim the lowest open cell of a column, so a cell you want is only playable once the cell beneath it is filled. Almost every idea in this guide comes back to that.
Step 1: Always start in the centre column
Cells in the centre column (column 4) belong to more possible four-in-a-rows than cells in any other column. A middle cell of the centre column sits on 13 different winning lines; a corner cell sits on only 3. Starting anywhere else gives up the first player’s forced win.
Here is the full count for every cell on the standard board. Each number is how many of the board’s 69 possible four-in-a-rows pass through that cell.
| Row | Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 | Col 4 | Col 5 | Col 6 | Col 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 (top) | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 |
| 4 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 5 |
| 3 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 5 |
| 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 |
| 1 (bottom) | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
The pattern is clear: the middle three columns and the middle rows are worth far more than the edges. A disc on the edge can only ever help a handful of lines.
If you’re going second, your priority is to also play in the centre column, ideally directly above your opponent’s piece. This blocks their easiest follow-up threats.
Step 2: Build double threats
A double threat is a position where you can complete two different 4-in-a-rows on your next move. Your opponent can only block one. You win.
The classic shape is the 7: a horizontal line across the top joined to a diagonal running down from one end, like the numeral. It tends to create two threats, often stacked one directly above the other in the same column. When your opponent blocks the lower one, they place a piece that lets you complete the upper one.
Not every double threat is a 7. Three in a row on the bottom row with both ends open is also a double threat, because either end completes the line and both cells are playable right away. That is why a bottom-row pair with plenty of empty cells on both sides deserves your attention early.
Step 3: Watch for the odd/even threat
Standard Connect Four uses 7 columns of 6 rows = 42 cells. The first player (Red) makes moves 1, 3, 5… 41 — the odd-numbered turns. The second player (Yellow) makes moves 2, 4, 6… 42 — the even turns.
Counting rows from the bottom, threats on odd rows (1, 3, 5) favour Red. Threats on even rows (2, 4, 6) favour Yellow. As the board fills, the player whose threat sits on “their” row parity is usually the one who gets to complete it. If you’re Red, aim to create threats on rows 3 and 5. If you’re Yellow, aim for threats on rows 2, 4, and 6.
A simple defensive habit follows from this for the second player: answering your opponent in the same column they just played tends to hand you the even-row cells. Victor Allis’s analysis of the game describes this idea as “claimeven”. It is not a full strategy on its own, but it is a useful default when you have nothing better.
Step 4: Use the seven-trap
The seven-trap is the double-threat shape from Step 2, set up deliberately. It works best low on the board, near the centre, where you have the most room to build it:
- Claim the centre and one neighbouring column early.
- Build a horizontal pair or three on a low row.
- Extend a diagonal down from one end of that line.
- Look for two empty cells, stacked in the same column, that would each complete a line for you.
- Don’t play into that column yourself, and avoid giving your opponent a reason to fill it until they’re forced to. When they finally block the lower cell, you take the upper one.
Step 5: Endgame — count the columns
Late in the game, you only ever have up to seven legal moves — one per open column — and many of them are poison because they let your opponent play on top. Count the open columns, note which ones you can’t afford to play in, and work out who will run out of safe moves first.
This is the Connect Four version of zugzwang: being forced to move when every move hurts you. If you hold a threat that your opponent can only stop by playing directly beneath it, you do not need to do anything clever. Keep playing safe moves elsewhere and let them run out first.
Common mistakes that lose games
- Playing under your opponent’s winning cell. Before every move, check what the cell directly above your disc would give the other player.
- Only watching horizontals. Diagonals are the lines most players miss, especially ones running from a low corner toward the centre.
- Blocking too early. Blocking an open two that is not yet a threat can waste a move you need to build your own.
- Drifting to the edges. Edge columns touch few lines. Use them as safe waiting moves late in the game, not as building blocks early on.
- Ignoring row parity. A threat on the wrong row for your turn order often never becomes playable at the right moment, so it ends up blocked by the turn order rather than by skill.
Practice
Play our Connect Four against the Hard CPU. Hard difficulty searches six moves ahead with minimax and alpha-beta pruning, so it punishes loose play and spots most short-range traps. Once you beat it consistently, try the 2 Players mode against a friend.
A few details make it a good training partner. Against the CPU you play Red, so you always move first and can practise the centre opening every game. Easy looks two moves ahead and Medium four, so you can climb the levels as your threats get sharper. At every level the CPU takes an immediate win and blocks your immediate win, which means one simple threat will never beat it: you need a genuine double threat or a parity trap it cannot see. Undo lets you rewind a loss and find the move that cost you the game, and the number keys 1 to 7 drop a disc in that column.
| Difficulty | Search depth | What it tests |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 2 moves | Basic threats and blocks |
| Medium | 4 moves | Double threats |
| Hard | 6 moves | Parity traps and endgame counting |
Frequently asked questions
Can the first player always win Connect Four?
Yes, with perfect play on the standard 7×6 board, the first player can force a win by starting in the centre column. Human players almost never play perfectly, so in practice either player can win.
What is the best first move in Connect Four?
The centre column. Its middle cells sit on 13 possible winning lines each, more than any other cell. According to the solved results, opening in a column next to the centre lets the second player hold a draw, and opening in the outer columns lets the second player force a win.
How do you win Connect Four if you go second?
Contest the centre, block early threats and aim to build your own threats on even rows (2, 4 and 6). Against perfect play you cannot force a win going second, but most opponents make enough mistakes for even-row threats to decide the game late on.
What is the seven-trap in Connect Four?
It is a shape that looks like the numeral 7: a horizontal line joined to a diagonal running down from one end. It usually creates two winning cells stacked in the same column, so when your opponent blocks the lower one, you complete the upper one.
How many ways are there to get four in a row?
The standard 7×6 board has 69 possible four-in-a-row lines: 24 horizontal, 21 vertical and 24 diagonal. Every one of them has to be blocked, or claimed, by the time the board fills.
For more strategy
See our games like Connect Four roundup and how to win at chess for more two-player abstract strategy depth. Our guide to mastering Connect Four goes further into advanced positions, and the same threat-building ideas carry over to Gomoku and, in miniature, to tic-tac-toe strategy. The Connect Four entry on Wikipedia covers the history of how the game was solved. For a one-button change of pace, play the Chrome Dino game.
