<P> The game was first solved by James Dow Allen (October 1, 1988), and independently by Victor Allis (October 16, 1988). Allis describes a knowledge based approach, with nine strategies, as a solution for Connect Four . Allen also describes winning strategies in his analysis of the game . At the time of the initial solutions for Connect Four, brute force analysis was not deemed feasible given the game's complexity and the computer technology available at the time . </P> <P> Connect Four has since been solved with brute force methods beginning with John Tromp's work in compiling an 8 - ply database (Feb 4, 1995). The artificial intelligence algorithms able to strongly solve Connect Four are minimax or negamax, with optimizations that include alpha - beta pruning, move ordering, and transposition tables . The code for solving Connect Four with these methods is also the basis for the Fhourstones integer performance benchmark . </P> <P> The solved conclusion for Connect Four is first player win . With perfect play, the first player can force a win, on or before the 41st move (ply) by starting in the middle column . The game is a theoretical draw when the first player starts in the columns adjacent to the center . For the edges of the game board, column 1 and 2 on left (or column 7 and 6 on right), the exact move - value score for first player start is loss on the 40th move, and loss on the 42nd move, respectively . In other words, by starting with the four outer columns, the first player allows the second player to force a win . </P> <P> There are many variations of Connect Four with differing game board sizes, game pieces, and / or gameplay rules . Many variations are popular with game theory and artificial intelligence research, rather than with physical game boards and gameplay by persons . </P>

Is there a way to always win connect four
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