VeXocide's entry (238 chars, score 305)
def AreaMax(i):
s=0
for z in range(1,196):
v,w=z%14,z/14
t=sum(v*pow(-1,v%2==1) for v in [[map(int,z.split()) for z in i.split('\n')[::-1]][y][x] for x,y in [(v+x%3-1,w+x/3-1) for x in range(9) if x!=4]])
if t>s:s,c=t,(v+1,w+1)
return s,c
Edited after the compo, more readable somewhat shorter (233 chars, score 311)
def AreaMax(i,m=0):
for n in range(196):
v,w=n%14,n/14
t=sum(s*(1,-1)[s&1]
for s in [[map(int,z.split())
for z in i.split('\n')[::-1]][y][x]
for x,y in [(v+x%3-1,w+x/3-1)
for x in range(9) if x!=4]])
if t>m:m,c=t,(v+1,w+1)
return m,c
