Othello Rules: Place, Outflank and Flip
Othello has one kind of move and one rule for flipping. Five steps on a real board cover the whole game, plus the first thing strong players look for.
Step 1 of 5
Four discs to start
Othello is played on an 8×8 board with discs that are black on one side and white on the other. Every game starts with four discs in the centre, and Black moves first: the stars mark Black's four legal first moves. When neither player can move, usually because the board is full, the player with more discs wins.
Outflank and flip
Your disc must outflank at least one white disc: trap it in a straight line between the new disc and a black disc already on the board. Every trapped disc flips to black. A square that traps nothing is not a legal move.
Your move
Flip the white disc on d4.
Flip several lines at once
Lines run in eight directions: across, up and down, and along both diagonals. A disc that traps white discs on more than one line flips them all in the same move.
Your move
Find the move that flips discs on three lines at once.
Take the corner
A disc in a corner can never be flipped, because no line runs past a corner to trap it. White's disc on b2, diagonally next to the empty corner, has opened a1 for you. That is why good players avoid the squares beside an empty corner.
Your move
Take the corner.
No move? Pass
It is White's turn. White has 14 discs to Black's 3, but every black disc sits on the bottom edge, and no empty square lets White trap one. What happens now?
What you learned
- Black moves first, from four discs in the centre.
- Every move must trap at least one disc in a straight line, and every trapped disc flips.
- One disc can flip lines in several directions at once.
- A disc in a corner can never be flipped.
- With no legal move you pass. When neither player can move, more discs wins.
In this course
Unit 1The rules
- Othello Rules: Place, Outflank and Flip
Take it to the table.
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