Connect Four Rules & How to Win
Connect Four, also called Connect 4 or Four in a Row: two players drop discs into an upright grid, and the first to line up four wins.
Play Connect FourRules
- The grid has 6 rows and 7 columns. Players take turns choosing a column for their disc.
- A disc falls to the lowest empty space in that column. A full column is closed.
- Four in a row horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins.
- If the grid fills up with no four in a row, the game is a draw.
How to win
- Take the centre: the middle column is part of the most possible lines, so open there.
- Make two threats at once: your opponent can only block one.
- Watch where discs land: don't play directly below your opponent's threat, or you lift them into it.
- Endgame parity: counting rows from the bottom, the first player wants threats on odd rows and the second player on even rows, so the opponent is eventually forced to give way.
Did you know?
In 1988 James Dow Allen and Victor Allis each proved that with perfect play the first player always wins by starting in the centre column, while starting next to it leads to a draw. Source