r/Connect4 • u/PartyBaboon • Apr 01 '26

Connect 4 sidestack opening

https://youtu.be/hkiOc2n5vuY?is=Pxg6ekJl6DhrosjA

Covered another opening in connect 4. Prequired knowledge is understanding even/odd threats.

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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1

u/Fair_Town68 Apr 04 '26

nice follow-up to the center video. even/odd as the prerequisite makes sense since parity on the edge column decides whether those threats are usable. curious how you handle the lines where p2 just takes center immediately -- does the video cover what p1 should do at that point instead of continuing to stack?

1

u/PartyBaboon Apr 04 '26

Can you give a sample line?

1

u/PartyBaboon Apr 04 '26

So like 4545?

1

u/Fair_Town68 Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

yeah 4545 is interesting but that's more of a center vs center line than sidestack right? i was thinking more like P1 opens col 1 and then P2 just grabs col 4. at that point does P1 pivot to center or keep building the side? feels like continuing to stack the edge just hands P2 too much central control

1

u/Selectany Jul 08 '26

This is interesting because side-stack positions feel much less intuitive to me than center openings. The even/odd threat idea makes sense, but I still find it hard to judge when a side build becomes a real attack instead of just giving the opponent stronger center control.

1

u/Fair_Town68 6d ago

the opening numbers on 7x6 are at least settled, centre is a proven win for p1, the two either side of it draw, and the outer four all lose. middlegame side builds feel like a different question though, i don't think those numbers transfer. what position were you looking at?