How to Win Connect 4 as Player 1 (Going First)

Why Player 1 Has a Forced Win

Connect 4 was solved twice in 1988. Victor Allis published the result in his master's thesis at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and James Allen reached the same conclusion the same year working independently. The core finding: on the standard 7-column by 6-row board, Player 1 wins with perfect play if and only if the first move is the center column.

Why the center? Count the four-in-a-row lines that pass through each square. The center column participates in 28 possible winning lines. Columns 3 and 5 sit at 21 each. Columns 2 and 6 drop to 14. The outer columns 1 and 7 only touch 8 lines apiece. By starting in the center you immediately claim a piece of 28 potential threats and deny your opponent the same.

The First Five Moves That Build a Winning Position

A common winning line goes like this. You play column 4 (center). Player 2 has two reasonable replies — stack on top of you in column 4, or place adjacent in column 3 or 5.

If Player 2 stacks in column 4, you play column 4 again. Now you control the bottom and the third row of the center column. Player 2 typically breaks symmetry by trying column 3 or 5. Whichever side they pick, you mirror toward the same side and start a diagonal attack from your center stack. By move five you have two converging threats and Player 2 has to defend on every reply.

If Player 2 plays adjacent (column 3 or 5), you stack the center to claim two of the bottom three rows in the most valuable column on the board. From there you fan out toward the far side of where Player 2 played, building diagonals that target row 3 and row 5.

The Odd-Row Threat Principle

Player 1 lays the first, third, fifth, and seventh stones in any column where both players keep stacking. That means Player 1 naturally lands on odd-numbered rows (counting from the bottom). Player 2 lands on even rows. This parity is permanent until someone refuses to stack.

The strategic implication: build threats that complete on row 1, row 3, or row 5. A threat is a three-in-a-row with an empty square that, when filled, makes four. If your threat completes on an odd row, Player 2 cannot block it by stacking — they would just hand you the win on their own move. They have to use a counterthreat or refuse to play the relevant column. Stack two or more odd-row threats and you force a position where Player 2 runs out of safe moves.

The Six Common Player 1 Mistakes

Opening on the edge. Columns 1, 2, 6, and 7 throw away the proven win. If you open on column 1 or 7, you will lose against a competent Player 2. If you open on column 2 or 6, you lose more slowly to the same opponent. Always open center.

Abandoning the center too early. After your center opener, returning to columns 3 through 5 stays priority for the first six or seven moves. Drifting to the edges to chase a single short threat usually loses you the central tempo and the game.

Mirroring instead of attacking. Some Player 1s copy Player 2 to "stay even." Mirroring throws away the first-move advantage. You are the attacker — you should be the one forcing the position, not reacting to it.

Missing odd-row threats. If you build a threat that completes on row 2 or row 4, Player 2 can simply stack to block it on their next move with no cost. Always check the parity of the square that completes your threat before committing.

Letting Player 2 build column 4. If Player 2 ever gets two pieces in the center column without resistance, your edge is gone. Defend the center stack as fiercely as you attack with it.

Playing too fast. The forced win exists, but the lines are sharp. Most blunders happen in the first 90 seconds of a bullet game. Slow your first six moves and the rest plays itself.

Where to Practice

Reading about a forced win is one thing — feeling the pattern in your fingers is another. The fastest way to internalize the Player 1 plan is to play it 50 times against an engine that does not blunder. You will start to recognize the recurring shapes: the double diagonal, the row 5 threat, the column 4 squeeze. Cross-reference with the Player 2 strategy to understand what your opponent is trying to do back at you, and read the Player 2 win guide to find out which Player 1 mistakes hand the game away fastest.