⚫ Reversi

How to play Reversi

1. You play Black and move first. Black always opens.
2. A legal move must sandwich at least one unbroken line of white discs between the disc you place and another black disc.
3. Every sandwiched disc flips to your colour, in all eight directions at once.
4. When neither side can move, whoever has more discs on the board wins.

Controls

Tips & strategy

• Corners can never be flipped. Taking one is almost always the strongest move on the board.
• Avoid the squares diagonally adjacent to a corner — they hand your opponent the corner in reply.
• Having fewer discs in the midgame is usually good. Mobility beats material until the last ten moves.
• Count the board from around move fifty. From there the disc total is what actually decides the result.

Frequently asked questions

Is Reversi the same as Othello?

The rules played here are the modern Othello rules — fixed starting position, sixty-four discs — which is what almost everyone means by Reversi today.

What if I have no legal move?

Your turn is skipped automatically and play passes back to the opponent. If neither player can move, the game ends.

How strong is the Hard opponent?

It searches several moves ahead and weights corners and edges heavily, so it punishes early greed. Beating it consistently takes real positional play.