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more players can compete at the same time. This makes things more interesting, because:

We like to hold Connect Four tournaments.

Because the game plays so quickly it lends itself to tournament play, even when you have other things going on at the same time. By using simple "brackets" like you see every year for the NCAA's basketball March Madness, you can easily arrange competitive match-ups that eventually crown a Connect Four Champion.

Pair off players by drawing names from a hat, or by pitting those of similar age against each other for the first round. We play a fun variation in which the first round "losers" form up a new set of brackets, too. As the matches lead to a final-round winner, we add one more twist: the winner of the losers-bracket matches is pitted against the winner of the original ("winners") brackets, to determine the Grand Master. You'd be surprised how often the losing side ends up winning, after all.

The last time we played this way, we had contestants ranging from a 14 year-old math whiz to Grampa, at 80. We had pairings of young vs. older, sibling rivals, parents and offspring, and boys versus girls - all created randomly at first and then by match wins along the way. If we'd been betting by instinct, we'd have been wrong time and again. In the end, a simple yet challenging game provided at least two hours of lively entertainment on a chilly, breezy summer day.

Maybe next time we hold a Connect Four tournament at the campground, I can make it to the final round. We'll see.

Learn more about this author, Jim Bessey.
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