Quick winning principles
- Play column 4 (center) first — it participates in the most winning lines.
- Build threat pairs: two connected threats where opponent can block only one.
- Never play directly below an opponent's three-in-a-row unless you create your own threat.
- Count vertical threats — a column with three of your discs on bottom rows is unstoppable.
Ideal strategy
- 1
Book opening: 1. d1 (center column) is proven optimal. Respond to opponent's edge plays with center-adjacent columns (3 or 5).
- 2
Center column control: column 4 connects to 21 winning lines; columns 3 and 5 connect to 17; edges connect to 11. Dominate center.
- 3
Threat pairs: create two simultaneous threats (e.g. horizontal at row 3 and diagonal through row 5) — opponent blocks one, you win with the other.
- 4
Vertical traps: stack three discs in a column on rows 1-3, forcing opponent to play above you, then complete four vertically.
- 5
Zugzwang: in late game, force opponent to play in a column that gives you the win on the next move.
- 6
Odd-even column theory: on a 7-column board, columns 1,3,5,7 have odd height capacity; use parity to predict when a column fills.