Four in a Row strategy: 7 ways to win more games

Four in a Row looks like a race to line up four discs, but most games are decided by something quieter: which spaces each player can actually reach, and who runs out of safe moves first. This tutorial plays through a complete beginner game, then explains seven strategies that will win you more games, from claiming the center to the odd and even row rule that decides many endgames. You can try every idea on the Four in a Row board as you read.

What you will learn

• Why the middle column is worth more than any other.
• A two-question check to run before every move.
• Why the space below a threat is often the most important space on the grid.
• How to build a double threat, two threats your opponent can’t both block.
• The odd and even row rule, and which rows you want as the first or second player.
• How to use forcing moves to choose where your opponent’s discs go.

New to the game? Read the Four in a Row rules first; it takes a few minutes. Below, columns are numbered 1 to 7 from the left and rows 1 to 6 from the bottom. In the diagrams, solid discs belong to the first player and rings to the second.

Your first game, step by step

Maya (solid discs) goes first against Leo (rings). Watch how Maya wins without ever having three in a row out in the open.

1. Maya drops into column 4, the center. Center spaces belong to the most lines, so every later disc she adds near them has more ways to connect.

2. Leo plays column 6. It is not a bad move, but it gives up the fight for the middle.

3. Maya drops into column 4 again, landing in row 2 on top of her first disc.

4. Leo drops on top of her in column 4 (row 3). He stops her from stacking three up the middle. Sensible.

5. Maya plays column 4 once more (row 4), and Leo answers in column 4 (row 5). The center column now reads, from the bottom: Maya, Maya, Leo, Maya, Leo.

6. Maya plays column 6, landing on Leo’s disc in row 2. In row 2 she now has columns 4 and 6.

7. Leo fills the center column (row 6). This is his mistake. It blocks nothing, and it gives Maya a free move on the right side of the grid, where her discs are gathering.

8. Maya plays column 7 (row 1). Look at the diagonal from column 7, row 1 up to column 4, row 4. Maya owns three of its four spaces; only column 5, row 3 is missing. That is a threat, but it can’t be used yet: column 5 is empty, so the space hangs two discs above the floor.

9. Leo plays column 6 (row 3), and Maya drops into column 7 again (row 2). Row 2 now reads Maya, empty, Maya, Maya in columns 4 to 7. That is a second threat, in column 5, row 2, directly below the first.

10. Leo is lost. If he drops into column 5, his disc lands in row 1 and Maya wins in row 2. So he plays elsewhere, column 3.

11. Maya drops into column 5 herself (row 1). Now row 2 of column 5 is reachable, and Leo must block it.

12. Leo blocks in column 5, row 2, which lifts the next space to row 3, the one Maya was waiting for.

13. Maya drops into column 5 (row 3) and completes the diagonal. Four in a row.

Notice what happened. Maya never made an obvious three in a row on the floor that Leo could simply block. She built two threats in the same column, one above the other, so blocking the lower one gave her the upper one.

7 strategies for beginners

1. Control the center

A space in the middle of column 4 is part of 13 possible lines of four. A corner space is part of only 3. Discs in the center columns connect in every direction, while discs on the edges can only help lines going one way. Start in column 4, and keep coming back to columns 3, 4 and 5 when nothing urgent is going on.

2. Ask two questions before every move

Before you drop a disc, ask:

1. Can I make four right now? Then do it.
2. Can my opponent make four on their next turn? Then block that space, unless you can win first.

Check all four directions every time. Diagonals are the lines beginners miss most, because the discs in them sit at different heights and don’t look connected.

3. Watch the space below a threat

A threat only matters once its space is reachable. If your opponent needs row 2 of a column and row 1 is still empty, don’t drop into that column. Your disc would land in row 1 and give them the support they need.

The same idea works for you. A threat of yours that is hanging in the air is not wasted. It quietly poisons the space below it, so your opponent can never play in that column. As the grid fills up, those forbidden columns pile up and your opponent can run out of safe moves.

4. Build double threats

One threat gets blocked. Two at once usually wins. The simplest double threat is three in a row on the floor with both ends open: your opponent can block only one end.

Strong players rarely allow that, so look for two other shapes. The first is the stacked threat from the sample game: two threats in the same column, directly above each other. The second is two threats in different columns that both become playable at the same time. Whenever you have two discs in a line, ask which space would turn it into a threat, and whether that space also helps another line.

5. Use odd and even rows

This is the idea that decides most close games. Imagine the second player always drops directly on top of the first player’s last disc. Each column holds six discs, so the first player’s discs land in rows 1, 3 and 5 of a column and the second player’s in rows 2, 4 and 6. Near the end of a game, when most columns are full and the moves are forced, the spaces really do get shared out roughly this way.

So:

• If you went first, build threats in the odd rows (1, 3 and 5). When the grid fills up, those spaces tend to fall to you.
• If you went second, build threats in the even rows (2, 4 and 6), and copy your opponent by dropping on top of their discs when you have nothing better to do.

A threat in the wrong row is still useful, because it keeps a column closed to your opponent, but a threat in the right row is the one that wins the endgame. In the sample game Maya, the first player, won with her row 3 threat.

6. Use forcing moves

A move that makes a playable threat forces your opponent to block at once. That means you choose where their disc goes. Use it to fill a space you want filled, like Maya’s disc in column 5 that lifted her threat within reach. Before you force, check that their blocking disc doesn’t give them a threat of their own.

7. Count the safe moves in the endgame

When only a few columns are left, list them. A column is safe for you if dropping into it doesn’t hand your opponent a win, and doesn’t fill the space below one of your own useful threats. Whoever runs out of safe moves first has to play a losing one. Keeping one or two harmless moves in reserve, instead of spending them early, is often what wins the game.

Common beginner mistakes

• Only attacking. Building your own line while your opponent quietly gets three in a row with an open space.
• Missing diagonals. If you lose a game and don’t know how, it was probably a diagonal.
• Filling the space under a threat, whether it is your opponent’s (you lose) or your own (you throw it away).
• Playing on the edges early. Columns 1 and 7 can only help lines that run one way.
• Making a threat that is blocked at once for no gain. Every forced block is a free disc for your opponent somewhere. Make sure it lands somewhere that helps you, not them.
• Rushing. The game rewards checking the whole grid before each drop.

A practice plan

1. Play three games against Easy as the first player. Focus on two things only: start in the center and answer the two questions before every move.
2. Move up to Medium. It blocks every direct threat, so you will need a double threat to win. Try to set one up in every game.
3. Play Medium as the second player. Practise building threats in the even rows and dropping on top of the computer’s discs when nothing is urgent.
4. Take on Hard. As the first player, aim to win with an odd-row threat. As the second player, a draw is a good result.
5. Use Undo to explore. After a loss against the computer, step back a few moves and try another column to see what would have happened.
6. Play friends and alternate who starts. The running score shows whether you are winning more as the first or the second player.

For the full rules, including what counts as a line and the pop-out variant, see the Four in a Row rules guide. When you’re ready, open the Four in a Row game and try the stacked threat for yourself.