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  • Lesson 5 of 7
  • Strategy
  • 2 min

Edges in Othello: Discs That Are Hard to Flip

After the corners, the edges are the strongest part of the board. A disc in the middle can be trapped along four lines. A disc on the edge has only one line to worry about.

Step 1 of 3

  1. One line to fear

    Your discs on h3, h4, h5 and h6 are on the edge. Take h5: the row and both diagonals through it start at h5, because there is no square to its right. A disc can only be trapped with an enemy disc on each side, so none of those lines can flip it. Only the edge itself, the h-file along the arrow, can. That is why edge discs are hard to flip.

  2. Take a safe edge

    The move that flips the most here is d2, five discs. Look along the edges instead.

    Your move

    Put a disc on the edge where White can't flip it next move.

  3. Which line can flip it?

    Your new disc on f8 sits on the top edge. Along which line could White ever flip it?

    Question

What you learned

  • A disc on the edge can only be flipped along the edge.
  • An edge square away from the corners, which White can't flip back at once, is usually a good square.
  • The C-squares are edge squares too: be careful with them while the corner beside them is empty.

In this course

Unit 1The rules

  1. Othello Rules: Place, Outflank and Flip

Unit 2Strategy

  1. Othello Corners: Why They Can Never Be Flipped
  2. X-Squares and C-Squares in Othello
  3. Mobility in Othello: Leave Your Opponent Few Moves
  4. Edges in Othello: Discs That Are Hard to Flip
  5. Frontier Discs and Quiet Moves in Othello
  6. Parity in the Othello Endgame: Get the Last Move

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