How to Play Reversi

Reversi (also known as Othello) is a board game played by two players. Opponents battle for control of the 8x8 game board. Each player places pieces at the end of lines of chips and flips them so that they display a particular color. The most common version of Reversi is played with black and white sided chips, although there are variants available. Reversi is simple to play, but requires a fair amount of strategy to become adept.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Reversi game board

1. Place the starting pieces at the center of the board, one white at the top left and one black adjacent to the top right. Directly below, place one black and one white in the reverse pattern so that they form a checkered appearance.
2. Begin play with the black player, who always goes first. The black player places a piece in a position adjacent to a white piece in such a manner as to flank it on either end by a black piece like this: B-W-B, or B-W-W-B, and so on.
3. Turn over the white pieces to reveal their black sides, completing an entire chain of the same color.
4. Have the white player go next, following the same procedure with his or her white pieces (W-B-W, and so on).
5. Continue play until every space on the board has been filled or until there are no more valid moves. The player who has the most revealed chips wins.
6. Be aware that if you have no possible moves on the board, then you must forfeit your turn. It's possible, in some situations, for one player to be out of moves but the opponent could have a string of potential moves. Experienced players work to set up such occurrences.
7. Try to get one of your own colored pieces in each of the corners. Corners are the most powerful spaces on the board and can control all of the other spaces along the border shared by the corner. Many players can change the outcome of the game dramatically by placing a piece in the corner.

Tips & Warnings

• Play online versions of Reversi if there are no opponents in your area. In addition to computerized opponents, there are also multiplayer online versions of the game available for play against people around the world.
• The Reversi chips are a choking hazard for young children. Supervision is strongly suggested for children under three.