Four in a Row
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Four in a Row Fun Facts

Think you know Four in a Row? Here are twelve facts about the game many people call Connect 4.

Connect 4 fun facts in numbers: 42 spaces, 21 discs each, 69 ways to win, 4.5 trillion positions, a 7-move quickest win, solved in 1988
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  1. The standard board has 42 spaces: 7 columns and 6 rows.
  2. Each player has 21 discs.
  3. There are 69 possible winning lines.
  4. There are about 4.5 trillion possible positions on the board.
  5. The quickest possible win takes just 7 moves in total.
  6. A game can never last more than 42 moves.
  7. The game was solved in 1988, by two people working separately within weeks of each other.
  8. With perfect play, the first player wins by starting in the middle column.
  9. Starting next to the middle gives a draw with perfect play; starting anywhere else loses.
  10. The middle column is part of more winning lines than any other column.
  11. A legend says Captain James Cook played a four-in-a-row game at sea, giving it the nickname “Captain’s Mistress”. There’s little real evidence for the story.
  12. A 3D version on a 4 × 4 × 4 cube has 76 winning lines. See 3D Four in a Row.

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More in The History of Four in a Row: Who Invented Four in a Row? · Four in a Row Fun Facts · Other Names for Four in a Row

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