Four in a Row

How to play

Take turns dropping a disc into one of the seven columns. It falls to the lowest free square. Get four of your discs in a line, across, down or on a diagonal, before your opponent does. Fill the board with no four and it’s a draw.

• Tap or click anywhere in a column to drop a disc there.
• On a keyboard, the arrow keys choose a column and Enter drops. Or press 1 to 7.
• The middle column is part of the most lines, so it’s usually the strongest place to start.

Today’s puzzle

Everyone gets the same position each day, with you to move as red. There is a way to win in three moves, whatever the computer does, and it will defend as well as it can. Each move either keeps the win in reach or lets it slip. A new puzzle appears at 10 PM Bangladesh time. Solve it each day to build a streak. Your streak is saved in this browser only.

The rivals

• Clippy (easy). It looks like you're trying to win. Spots a four in front of it, misses plenty else.
• WOPR (medium). Thinks a few moves ahead and blocks what it sees. Now and then it plays a hunch.
• Deep Thought (hard). Looks far down the board and never slips. Bring a plan.

A short history

Games of four in a line on an upright board have been played for decades, and in 1988 the standard seven by six game became one of the first to be solved by computer. James D. Allen and Victor Allis worked it out independently within weeks of each other: the player who moves first can always force a win by starting in the middle column. That is why no rival here plays perfectly. Where would the fun be?