![]() 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. 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.Ĭonnect Four has since been solved with brute-force methods, beginning with John Tromp's work in compiling an 8-ply database (February 4, 1995). Allen also describes winning strategies in his analysis of the game. Allis describes a knowledge-based approach, with nine strategies, as a solution for Connect Four. The game was first solved by James Dow Allen (October 1, 1988), and independently by Victor Allis (October 16, 1988). For classic Connect Four played on a 7-column-wide, 6-row-high grid, there are 4,531,985,219,092 positions for all game boards populated with 0 to 42 pieces. One measure of complexity of the Connect Four game is the number of possible games board positions. Connect Four also belongs to the classification of an adversarial, zero-sum game, since a player's advantage is an opponent's disadvantage. If the board fills up before either player achieves four in a row, then the game is a draw.Ĭonnect Four is a two-player game with perfect information for both sides, meaning that nothing is hidden from anyone. The two players then alternate turns dropping one of their discs at a time into an unfilled column, until the second player, with red discs, achieves a diagonal four in a row, and wins the game. Milton Bradley, Connect Four "Pretty Sneaky, Sis" television commercial, 1977 Ī gameplay example (right), shows the first player starting Connect Four by dropping one of their yellow discs into the center column of an empty game board.
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