Surround and Flip the Opponent’s Discs
Othello is a two-player strategy game played on an eight-by-eight board. One player uses black discs, while the other uses white. Each disc has a black side and a white side, allowing pieces to change colour during the match. The game begins with four discs in the centre. Two show black and two show white. Matching colours sit across from each other on a diagonal. Black takes the first turn.
The goal is to finish with more discs showing your colour than your opponent’s colour. Players do not remove captured pieces from the board. They flip them over instead.
Place a Disc Around an Enemy Line
A legal move must trap at least one opposing disc between the new piece and another disc of your colour. The trapped line may run horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Every opposing piece inside that line flips to your colour. One move can flip pieces in several directions at once.
For example, imagine a row containing a black disc followed by two white discs and an empty space. Black can place a piece in that empty space. The two white discs now sit between black pieces, so both turn black.
A player cannot place a piece in a space that captures nothing. When no legal move exists, that player misses the turn. The opponent continues. The game ends when neither side can make another valid move. The player with the larger number of discs wins.
Do Not Chase Every Early Disc
Taking many pieces at the start may look useful, but it can give the opponent more places to play. Strong Othello play often focuses on controlling available moves rather than owning the largest number during the early turns. Keeping more useful choices is known as maintaining mobility.
A move that flips only one disc may create a stronger position than a move that flips a long row. Players should check what their opponent can do next before choosing.
Protect the Corners
Corners are the strongest spaces on the board. A disc placed in a corner cannot become trapped from the other side, so it cannot flip again. Corner ownership can also help secure more discs along the nearby edges.
Spaces directly beside an empty corner can be risky. Playing there may allow the opponent to take that corner on the next turn.
Othello uses one simple capture rule, yet the board can change after every move. A player may control most of the pieces during the middle of the match and still lose near the end. Careful positioning, safe edges, useful corners, and control of future moves matter more than collecting every available disc.