Hi i play connect 4 and am not very good at,i try but simple i cant compare to other good players because they all how to win when being a first player! can anyone teach how to be very good at this game? THANKS!
C4
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C4
IF Red, try to keep odd at least 1 odd you will win. If blue try to keep even. Sometimes its different. Just count the spaces and basically remember the plays and you will win. Watch grandmasters ;)
Mike summarized the even/odd rule but if you want the whole thing explained in detail, there are 2 tutorials. Go to google and type "expert play in connect four" + "james allen" and you will find a very good introductory explanation of the game. The problems he gives will be a bit difficult for you, dont' worry about solving them yet. Another tutorial is, "Connect four is solved" "the game is over: white wins" by Victor Allis. He explains the same even/odd row rule. Don't worry about the 9 rules he gives, those are useful for computers but not practical for humans i don't think. I think those rules require brute force move searches that only computers can do. But they are interesting, if you can understand Allis' wordy explanations of them, heh. Knowing the even/odd strategy is about 1/5 the battle. Once you know it, try it out for a bit. Then, what will really improve your game is practicing against yourself with a program. Get yourself into any position you think is interesting or difficult. Try to figure out the right move(s). If you are stumped, let the program solve the move. Study that position and try to understand why the program's moves are correct. Keep doing that and you will get the answers right more and more often. Eventually, you will see the right moves usually just by intuition and no thought whatsoever. Since you will probably not think of every position yourself, that is where opponents come in handy. When you feel you know what to do in every situation, test yourself against people. If they do moves you are unfamiliar with that make you have to think, remember those moves and study those positions next time you practice with your program. Every time you lose with red, remember what blue did. Every game you play that you aren't certain you played perfectly, check with the program afterward to see if you made any errors. Do not memorize red moves; understand them (but eventually you'll have them in your memory anyway just from playing them a lot). Blue moves, however, you should memorize. Memorize blue moves that you think are tough for red to beat (what you think is tough will change as you improve, therefore your blue moves will change). Know a wide variety of blue moves. Use different blue moves every game. If you see me in the lobby, give me your email address and i'll send you the best program for improving. Use it mainly in human vs human mode, but occasionally test yourself against the computer. But note: when you no longer lose against the computer, that doesn't mean you are perfect. The computer only knows so many blue moves. If you use this program to cheat, i will know and i will report you. But i trust that you won't, hence i'll send you the program. i won't mention the program's name on this forum because a cheater might see it Oh and one more thing: sometime in 2008 a book is being published about connect four. It is being written by James Allen, one of the first people to solve the game. It will have many problems to solve an explanations of the solutions. Buy it, he deserves the profit :D i hope this message is helpful because it sure is long lol
What he said lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;) Another hint!!! Sometimes if you get more things in the middle it will help u at the end!!!!! but not always just depends on the type of play. Try to get a 2 way where if someone blocks that 1 space then u move in the 2nd space by winning!!!! Always start in the middle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For red When bue depends cause u never know if they use program or not but i reconmend row 2 3 5 or 6!!!! For instance this is the number 1 thing people mess up on Red starts first!!! He goes row 4 (middle) BLue goes row 3 Red goes row 4 Mistake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dont do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If your oppenent is good he will beat that move The best is go row 4 if blue goes row 3 u go row 6 And thats all i can say for now remember use a program to train but dont use it in battle!!!! (playing) good luck and may the force be with you!! ;)
spoken like a true king, mike :p sorry fiki, i forgot a two important pieces of advice: always play against the best players possible. Forget about points and record; the knowledge you gain from losing is worth more and once you get good, the points will come quickly and easily. Occasionally play weaker players just to be exposed to their strange moves which sometimes are harder to play against than better moves. The more positions you encounter, the better. Which leads me to the next piece of advice: try every red style there is (by style i mean, when there is more than one good move for red in a given situation, each good move is a style. Play a different style every time you face that same situation). What separates good players from great players is ability to think through any situation thrown at them.
Very Nice post mate. >Then, what will really improve your game is practicing against yourself with a program. Get yourself into any position you think is interesting or difficult. Try to figure out the right move(s). If you are stumped, let the program solve the move. Study that position and try to understand why the program's moves are correct. Keep doing that and you will get the answers right more and more often. Eventually, you will see the right moves usually just by intuition and no thought whatsoever. >If you use this program to cheat, i will know and i will report you. But i trust that you won't, hence i'll send you the program.
Agreed!
Use a program to train but dont use it to cheat!
Thx for your help fstal86,my email is Connect4Master@hotmail.com
Lol!!!!!! What about me :_( :_( :_( I thought you were fstal86. You just made another accont to make yourself look better :@ lol nice try fstal ;)
Then Why do he have 1 post on this post???? Lol!!!! Doesn't make much sense when he could of talked on a different post but he had to come here and talk about your topic lol ;) Who knows? only you do ;)
he saw my posts on this thread and that's what made him like me, and that's when he created that name.
there really is no point in learning how to play this game, many people program with their so caleed"perfect program"(which i can't tell) and cheat to win their game+running. I wish flyordie would bann people who use program for more than 3 games.