Ok, there are a few problems there (and they are "columns" not "colons" - a "colon is a very different thing altogether :O )
What I assume you mean is that you have 7 rows by 7 columns, and you have implemented them as Button objects and named them A1, A2, ... B1, B2, ...
The first thing to notice is that that is a real pain to work with - because you have to use the names for each button when you check them.
Instead of adding all your buttons at design time, add them at run time, and use an array instead:
private Button[,] theBoard = new Button[7, 7];
Then, in your form constructor, fill the board:
int y = 10;
for (int i = 0; i < 7; i++)
{
int x = 10;
for (int j = 0; j < 7; j++)
{
Button b = new Button();
b.Top = y;
b.Left = x;
b.Width = 20;
b.Text = "";
b.Click += new EventHandler(button_click);
Controls.Add(b);
x += 25;
}
y += 25;
}
Now, you can check your board by referring to X,Y coordinates - which means you can write a method for checking all directions from a point, and use that for each coordinate on the board instead of naming them explicitly. There are 8 directions, and each is a combination of the current point plus or minus an x and y offset or 1, 0, or -1. Which means you can use another method that checks for a match of four identical objects given a point and two offsets, then call that 8 times.
Give it a try: it's going to be a lot easier than your way, very, very quickly!
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