and another for columns for i = 0 to 2 if board[i, 0] ==board[i, 1] and board[i, 1] ==board[i, 2] and board[i, 0] != blank then 'we have a match endif next i for example. If you don't have arrays you will need to code that check three times since each square is its own variable and has different names. Triple the work. Arrays make the code easier to read understand and maintain since you