How to Win Connect 4: The Strategy That Works

Why the center column wins: we counted every line

A standard board has 7 columns and 6 rows, and there are exactly 69 possible lines of four on it: 24 across, 21 up and down, and 24 diagonal. We counted how many of those lines pass through each square:

Now count whole columns: 51 of the 69 lines pass through the center column, 39 through each column next to it, 27 through the next pair, and only 15 through each edge column. A disc in the middle simply belongs to more possible wins. That is why the first move belongs in the center, and why the middle squares of rows 3 and 4 are the most valuable on the board.

The double threat trick from the video

A single threat gets blocked. Two threats at the same time win, because your opponent can only drop one disc per turn. The video shows the simplest version, on NitroPlayer's Medium level. Columns are numbered 1 to 7 from the left; you play red and go first.

1. Red drops in column 4, the center. The computer stacks on top of it.
2. Red drops in column 3. The computer plays column 4 again.
3. Red drops in column 5. Now red has three in a row on the bottom with both ends, columns 2 and 6, still empty.
4. The computer blocks column 2. Red drops in column 6 and wins.

We replayed this exact line against the game's Medium computer and it wins every time, because Medium only reacts to a three that is already on the board. On Hard, the computer searches five moves ahead and blocks one end of the bottom row as soon as you have two in a row there, so you need deeper double threats.

How to always win Connect 4 (and why nobody does)

Connect 4 is a solved game. In 1988 James D. Allen and Victor Allis showed, independently, that the first player can always force a win by starting in the center column with perfect play. Start anywhere else and the second player can at least draw.

The catch is that perfect play means seeing combinations dozens of moves deep. No human memorizes that. What you can do is follow the ideas the perfect strategy is built on: take the center, keep threats alive, and win the battle over odd and even rows near the end.

Odd and even rows: the endgame rule

Count rows from the bottom, 1 to 6. As the board fills up, players are often forced to drop discs in columns they would rather avoid. A threat that is still floating in the air (with empty squares under it) waits until someone is forced to fill the square below it.

• If you moved first, threats on odd rows (1, 3, 5) tend to work out for you: when the other columns fill up, your opponent is the one forced to give you the square.
• If you moved second, aim for threats on even rows (2, 4, 6).

So a single well-placed threat on the right row can win a game even if your opponent blocks everything else. Against the computer you always move first, so look for odd-row threats.

Connect 4 tips: mistakes that lose games

• Playing under a threat. If your opponent needs a square that is still in the air, never drop into the space directly below it. You build their floor.
• Missing an open three. Before every move, scan all four directions for three of their discs with an open fourth square. Block it unless you can win right now.
• Playing on the edges early. Columns 1 and 7 are part of only 15 of the 69 lines each. Use them when nothing better is left.
• One threat at a time. Build shapes that can turn into two threats, like the "7" (three in a row with a diagonal coming off one end) or two threats stacked directly above each other in one column.

Beating each computer level on NitroPlayer

Play our Connect 4 game free in your browser, with no download and no sign-up. When the computer gets easy, play online or send a friend a private link: people fall for the double threat far more often than Hard does.