Strategy

From The Othello Wiki Book Project

There is no single "winning strategy", which is what makes the game so interesting.

A bad strategy is to take as many disks as you can early in the game, (to maximise) which is easily defeated by taking few discs (to minimise). The greater Mobility advantage that this gives you, allows you to overcome the maximising players strategy.

This is another thing that makes Othello interesting, an intuitive strategy is not best.

There is however a point in the game where you need to start using some kind of maximisation strategy otherwise you won't secure enough disks to win.

Thus is the delicate balance.

• Strategy terms to consider include:
  • Mobility
  • Parity
  • Access
  • Evaporation
  • Checkerboarding
  • Edge Configuration
  • Tempo
  • Opening Books
  • Quiet moves
  • Edge grabbing
  • Timing
  • Regions

A more complete guide to terms referred to in Othello can be found in the Glossary.

If you are a newcomer to the game of Othello a nice explanation concerning the fundamentals of securing (or stabilising) disks can be found at this page, written by Amy Fu

Some pages may also include transcripts which you should be competent in following. For information on reading transcripts click here.