Why is the Connect Four gaming board 7x6? (or: algorithm for creating Connect $N$ board) The Connect Four board is 7x6, as opposed to 8x8, 16x16, or even 4x4.  Is there a specific, mathematical reason for this?  The reason I'm asking is because I'm developing a program that will be able to generate Connect $N$ boards, for any given number.  At first I assumed that the board size was 2n by 2n, but then I realized it's 7x6.  What's going on here?
P.S.: Forgive me if my question tags are incorrect; I'm not quite sure what this falls under.

So it seems that a 7x6 board was chosen because it's "the smallest board which isn't easily shown to be a draw".  In addition, it was also speculated that there should probably be an even amount of columns.  Therefore, it seems that the dimensions of a Connect $N$ board are a function of $N$.  I see two possible functions:
N.B.: I'm not sure if there's a rule about the numbers being consecutive, but I'm assuming that that is the case here.
Times 1.5 function pseudo-code:
column_height = N * 1.5;
If column_height is an even number:
    row_height = N + 1;
Otherwise (if column_height is an odd number):
    column_height = (N * 1.5) + 1; //truncate the decimal portion of (N * 1.5) before adding one
    row_height = column_height + 1;

Add 3 function psuedo-code:
column_height = N + 3
If column_height is an even number:
    row_height = N + 2;
Otherwise (if column_height is an odd number):
    column_height =  N + 4;
    row_height = N + 3;

The first one seems more likely, but since I'm trying to generate perfectly mathematically balanced game boards and there doesn't seem to be any symmetry that I can see, I'm still not sure.  Does this seem about right?
