[mgreene]

From what I recall, the 9x4 array was a holdover (no longer used) from a draft where we thought it may be useful to know the sum of pieces active in each row and column, kind of like this image:

(x's)
xoxxoxxo5
xoooooox2
oxxxxoxx6
21221122

Not that mixing ints and chars is good practice, but it was just a draft that grew.

MG