Reversi

Two people play a game on a board.

You use 64 small disks. One side is light. The other side is dark. Each player picks one color.

You take turns placing a disk. If you trap the other player, you flip their disks. Now they show your color!

This game is also called Othello. It is very popular. Many people play it in many lands.

The game ends when the board is full. The player with the most disks wins. It is fun to play!

Reversi is a game for two players.

You play on a board with 64 squares. You use 64 small disks. One side of each disk is light. The other side is dark. Each player picks one color to use. You take turns placing one disk on an empty square. If you trap the opponent's disks in a line, you flip them over. Now those disks show your color! The game ends when the board is full. The player with the most disks of their color wins.

This game is also known as Othello. A man named Goro Hasegawa patented Othello in 1971. He chose the name from a famous play. He also chose a green board. The green color comes from a scene in that play. Othello is very popular around the world. More than 40 million games have been sold. People play it in over 100 countries.

Some people play a version called Anti-Reversi. In that game, the goal is different. You want to have the fewest disks at the end!

Reversi is a famous strategy game played by two people.

It is a game of skill where players try to control the board. You play on a square board with 64 spaces. The game uses 64 identical disks that have a light side and a dark side. Each player chooses one color to represent them. The goal is to have more disks showing your color than your opponent when the game ends. This simple goal makes the game very exciting to play.

Learning how to play is quite easy once you see the pattern. First, players take turns placing one disk on an empty square. When you place a disk, you look for your opponent's pieces in a straight line. This line must be trapped between your new disk and another one of your color. If you find a line like this, you flip all those opponent disks over. Now those pieces show your color instead! This can happen in a straight row, a column, or even a diagonal line.

The history of the game is very interesting and a bit mysterious. Two Englishmen named Lewis Waterman and John W. Mollett both claimed to have invented Reversi in 1883. They even argued about who was the true inventor. The game became very popular in England during the late 1800s. We first saw a reliable mention of it in a magazine in August 1886. A German company called Ravensburger began making the game in 1893. Some people even wonder if the game has much older roots.

A new version called Othello changed everything in the 1970s. A man named Goro Hasegawa patented Othello in Japan in 1971. He chose the name from a famous Shakespeare play. He also picked a green board to match a scene from that play. Othello became a huge success all over the world. More than 40 million classic games have been sold in over 100 countries. Sales of the game have even gone over $600 million.

Today, people play this game in many different ways. You can play with a plastic set or even use Scrabble pieces. Some people play a strange version called Anti-Reversi. In that version, the winner is actually the person with the fewest disks! Many people also play Othello on computers and video game consoles. Nintendo even made one of its first arcade games called Othello. It is a game that keeps people thinking and playing for a long time.

Reversi is an abstract strategy board game designed for two players. It is played on an 8×8 uncheckered grid. The primary objective is to control as much of the board as possible. Players compete to have the most disks showing their assigned color when the game concludes. This game is valued for its deep strategic complexity despite its simple appearance.

The mechanics of the game rely on the movement and reversal of disks. Players use 64 identical disks that are light on one side and dark on the other. Each player selects one color to use for the entire match. During a turn, a player places one disk on an empty square. To make a valid move, the player must trap one or more opponent disks in a straight line. This line must be bounded by the newly placed disk and another disk of the current player's color. The trapped disks are then flipped, or reversed, to show the current player's color. This process can occur horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Multiple chains of disks may be captured in a single move.

There are distinct ways to begin a match depending on the specific ruleset used. In the historical version of Reversi, the game starts with an empty board. The first two moves made by each player are placed in the four central squares. These initial moves do not result in any captures. In contrast, the Othello variant uses a fixed initial setup. The game begins with four disks placed in a square in the middle of the grid. Two disks face the light side and two face the dark side. These are arranged so that same-colored disks sit on a diagonal. In Othello, the dark player always makes the first move.

The history of the game involves some mystery and competition. Two Englishmen, Lewis Waterman and John W. Mollett, both claimed to have invented Reversi in 1883. They even accused each other of being a fraud. The game became popular in England during the late 19th century. A reliable mention appeared in The Saturday Review on August 21, 1886. In 1893, the German publisher Ravensburger began producing the game. Some researchers have speculated about even older origins, though no documentation exists to prove it. A 1907 Japanese publication described Reversi using rules very similar to modern Othello.

A major turning point occurred in 1971 when Goro Hasegawa patented Othello in Japan. Hasegawa was a 38-year-old salesman who viewed Othello as an improvement on Reversi. He chose the name as a reference to the Shakespearean play, Othello. The name reflects the drama and conflict between the characters. The green color of the board was inspired by the image of the character Othello leading a battle in a green field. It also alludes to the "green-eyed monster" of jealousy mentioned in the play. This connection is fitting because players "engulf" their opponent's pieces. Othello became a massive commercial success globally. Sales have exceeded $600 million, and over 40 million classic games have been sold in more than 100 countries.

Competitive play involves strict rules and specialized tools. In international tournaments, players often use a standard time control. In the World Championship, this is typically 30 minutes per player. Players may also use transcript sheets to record every move on an 8×8 grid. This helps resolve disputes regarding illegal moves or incorrect flips. An alternative notation uses letters 'a' through 'h' and digits 1 through 8 to label the board. However, these numbers run in the opposite direction of the standard chess notation. To handle complex tournament situations, mathematicians created the Brightwell Quotient. Invented by Graham Brightwell, this is a specific formula used to break ties in the World Othello Championship.

Reversi and Othello connect to various fields and different ways of playing. The game has moved from physical boards to digital screens. Othello was one of Nintendo's first arcade games and was later ported to a home console in 1980.

Beyond standard play, there are unique variants like Anti-Reversi. In this version, the rules for placing disks remain the same, but the goal is reversed. The player who ends the game with the fewest disks of their own color is the winner. Whether played for fun or in professional championships, the game remains a significant part of global gaming culture.