@Dav You musta been serious about the 'one the last try' for the muses to bless you with another crack in the AI. ;-))
Thanks STx and Dav, I realize as I approach my goal of perfect AI, less and less people will want to play. But then again, a certain sort of person would be all the more challenged, until proved, at least to them self, unbeatable.
I see that at first your first move #2 of game seems irrational, at first, but you establish two poison spots on base line, on either side that AI can't play without losing, so that tells me AI needs to value base line cell or lower cells a little more.
Thanks you guys, your input is very helpful!