Reversi — played under the same rules as Othello — takes only a few minutes to learn. You and your opponent take turns placing discs and flipping each other's pieces; whoever owns the most discs at the end wins. Here is everything you need to start playing.
1
Set up the board
Reversi is played on an 8×8 board, the same size as a chessboard. Begin with four discs in the central four squares, arranged diagonally so each colour occupies one diagonal: white on D4 and E5, black on E4 and D5. Every disc has a black face and a white face, so the same physical disc can belong to either player as the game goes on.
2
Black moves first
Black always opens. After that players alternate, placing exactly one disc of their own colour per turn. Because the starting position is symmetric, Black has only four legal opening moves — C4, D3, E6 and F5 — and all four are rotations of the same move, so the first move never decides anything.
3
Make a legal move
You may place a disc on an empty square only if the move outflanks at least one enemy disc. Outflanking means trapping an unbroken straight line of your opponent's discs — horizontally, vertically or diagonally — between the disc you are placing and another disc of your own colour already on the board. There can be no gaps and no empty squares in that line. If a placement outflanks nothing it is not a legal move, however good it looks.
4
Flip the trapped discs
Every opponent disc caught in a line you have just outflanked turns to your colour. A single move can outflank in several directions at once, and all of those lines flip together. Discs only ever flip as the direct result of a move — you never flip discs later, and any disc can be flipped back and forth any number of times before the game ends.
5
Pass when you cannot move
If you have no legal move anywhere on the board you must pass, and your opponent moves again. Passing is never voluntary: when a legal move exists you have to make it, even if every option damages your position. That rule is what makes it so powerful to manoeuvre your opponent into a position where their only moves are bad ones. When neither player has a legal move the game ends immediately, sometimes well before the board is full.
6
Count the discs to win
The game ends when the board is full or neither player can move. Count the discs showing on the board: whoever has more of their own colour wins, and 32–32 is a draw. Tournament scoring awards any empty squares to the winner, so a game that stops early at 33–29 is recorded as 35–29.
Example: Black's opening move flips a white disc
Move 0 / 1
Start
Reading the board: how squares are named
Columns are lettered A to H from left to right and rows are numbered 1 to 8 from top to bottom, so the top-left square is A1 and the bottom-right is H8. Every opening name, guide and analysis on this site uses that notation. The four centre squares are D4, E4, D5 and E5; the corners are A1, A8, H1 and H8. It is worth learning early — once you can name a square, every piece of Reversi writing becomes readable.
The mistake almost every beginner makes
New players try to flip as many discs as possible every turn. It feels like progress and it is almost always wrong. Discs flip back constantly, so the disc count in the middle of a game tells you very little about who is winning. What actually matters is mobility: how many squares you can legally play on. Flipping a big group tends to leave your colour exposed along the frontier, which opens fresh squares for your opponent while shrinking your own choices. Strong players are often behind on discs for most of the game and win it in the last ten moves.
Why the corners decide games
A disc in a corner can never be flipped. Outflanking needs a disc on both sides of a line, and there is no square beyond a corner, so once a corner is taken it is permanent. Corners also anchor the edges next to them, turning those discs stable too. This is why the squares diagonally adjacent to a corner — B2, G2, B7 and G7, called X-squares — are the most dangerous on the board: playing one usually hands your opponent the corner beside it.
Passing, and how games really end
Games do not always fill all 64 squares. If a position is reached where neither player has a legal move, play stops there and the discs are counted as they stand. Spotting positions where your opponent will be forced to pass is a genuine tactic rather than a curiosity: every pass hands you a free move, and a free move late in the game is often worth a corner.
Reversi or Othello — does it matter here?
The rules above are the standard Othello rules, which is what virtually every online game, app and tournament uses today. Classic nineteenth-century Reversi let players place the first four discs wherever they liked and required each player to bring their own supply of discs, which could run out. That version is rarely played now. Learn the rules on this page and you can sit down at any Othello board, or open any app sold under either name, and play straight away.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Reversi the same as Othello?
In practice, yes. Othello is a standardised version of Reversi, trademarked in 1971, which fixed the starting position and gave each player 32 discs. Almost all modern play — including this site — uses the Othello rules, and the two names are used interchangeably.
How long does a game of Reversi take?
A game lasts at most 60 moves, since four of the 64 squares are filled at the start. Casual games usually take five to fifteen minutes. Tournament games played with clocks are typically limited to around 30 minutes per player.
Does the player with the most discs in the middle usually win?
No, and assuming otherwise is the most common beginner error. Disc counts swing wildly and mean little until roughly the last ten moves. Mobility — the number of legal moves available to you — predicts the result far better than the current score does.
Can you pass your turn in Reversi?
Only when you have no legal move at all. In that case passing is compulsory. Otherwise it is forbidden: if any legal move exists you must play it, even when every available option damages your position.
What is the best first move in Reversi?
It makes no difference. The starting position is symmetric, so Black's four legal openings — C4, D3, E6 and F5 — are all rotations of the same move. Real opening choices begin with White's reply, which is where named openings such as the Diagonal, Perpendicular and Parallel start to diverge.