Do tagged images occupy memory/locations?

I was just wondering if tagged images can occupy memory/locations (I'm not sure what to call them so i call them memory/locations)...

The code below is used to find matches and then removes them from view when they are 3 or more in a row/column. The thing is though that it seems that the if statements only works once. Once they have been used they stop finding the matches.

Is there a way of "releasing" the occupied if statements or is there another way of doing this?

for( int y=0; y<HEIGHT-2; y++ ){
for( int x=0; x<WIDTH-2; x++ ){

    //don't match empty squares
    if(grid[x][y] == nil){
        continue;
        NSLog(@"continue");
    }

    if(x >= 2 && x <= WIDTH -2  && y >= 2 && y <= HEIGHT - 2) {

        //Check to the right
        if(grid[x+1][y].tag == grid[x][y].tag && grid[x+2][y].tag == grid[x][y].tag) {

            NSLog(@"to the right");

            grid[x][y].alpha = 0;
            grid[x+1][y].alpha = 0;
            grid[x+2][y].alpha = 0;


            NSLog(@"Match to the right grid[x][y].tag %d",grid[x][y].tag);
            NSLog(@"Match to the right grid[x+1][y].tag %d",grid[x+1][y].tag);
            NSLog(@"Match to the right grid[x+2][y].tag %d",grid[x+2][y].tag);

        }

        //Check to the left
        else if (grid[x-1][y].tag == grid[x][y].tag && grid[x-2][y].tag == grid[x][y].tag){

            NSLog(@" to the left");

            grid[x][y].alpha = 0;
            grid[x+1][y].alpha = 0;
            grid[x+2][y].alpha = 0;

            NSLog(@"Match to the left grid[x][y].tag %d",grid[x][y].tag);
            NSLog(@"Match to the left grid[x-1][y].tag %d",grid[x-1][y].tag);
            NSLog(@"Match to the left grid[x-2][y].tag %d",grid[x-2][y].tag);

        }

        //Check up
        else if(grid[x][y-1].tag == grid[x][y].tag && grid[x][y-2].tag == grid[x][y].tag){

            NSLog(@"up");   

            grid[x][y].alpha = 0;
            grid[x][y-1].alpha = 0;
            grid[x][y-2].alpha = 0;         

            NSLog(@"Match up grid[x][y].tag %d",grid[x][y].tag);
            NSLog(@"Match up grid[x][y-1].tag %d",grid[x][y-1].tag);
            NSLog(@"Match up grid[x][y-2].tag %d",grid[x][y-2].tag);

        }

        //Check down
        else if(grid[x][y+1].tag == grid[x][y].tag && grid[x][y+2].tag == grid[x][y].tag){

            NSLog(@"down");

            grid[x][y].alpha = 0;
            grid[x][y+1].alpha = 0;
            grid[x][y+2].alpha = 0;

            NSLog(@"Match down grid[x][y].tag %d",grid[x][y].tag);
            NSLog(@"Match down grid[x][y+1].tag %d",grid[x][y+1].tag);
            NSLog(@"Match down grid[x][y+2].tag %d"开发者_运维技巧,grid[x][y+2].tag);

        }

    else{
        GamePaused = NO;
    }
}

}

No, they don't take up any memory. They are assigned only to be identified uniquely in its parent.