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Reversi

Your move.

You play red and go first. Put a piece where it traps white ones between two of yours.

Your pieces:2The computer's pieces:2

Opponent

Six rules and you know the game

Reversi, the game many people know as Othello.

A red piece and two white pieces in a row, with a chalk arrow pointing at the empty square after them.
Red plays where the arrow points. The two white pieces are trapped and turn red.

  1. Red goes first. After that the two sides take turns, one piece each.

  2. Every move has to trap something. You put a piece on an empty square so that one or more white pieces sit in a straight line between it and another red piece. The line can run along a row, up and down, or on a diagonal.

  3. Trapped pieces turn over. Every white piece in that line becomes red. One move can trap lines in several directions at once, and then all of them turn.

  4. No trap, no move. If there is nowhere you can trap a piece, you sit the turn out and your opponent plays again. You are back in as soon as you have a move.

  5. The game ends when neither side can move. Usually that is when the board is full, but it can happen sooner.

  6. Most pieces wins. The pieces are stacked and counted, and the taller side takes the game. The same number each is a draw.

How games are won

Take the corners. A piece in a corner can never be turned, because nothing can get behind it. What you build out from a corner along the edges tends to stay yours as well.

Stay off the squares next to an empty corner. A piece there is the bridge your opponent needs to reach the corner. The square on the diagonal is the worst of the three.

Do not count pieces early. In the middle of the game the side with more moves to choose from is the one in control. Turning a few pieces and leaving your opponent with nothing good to play beats turning many.

Keep your pieces on the inside. Pieces surrounded by other pieces give your opponent nothing to play against. Every piece of yours that faces an empty square is a move you are handing over.

Play the last move. Near the end a single move can turn a dozen pieces, and nothing turns them back after the final one. Try to be the one who fills the last empty square in each corner of the board.

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