DFOthello, Simple Tips To Help You Win

• Othello is old board game invented back in 1971, which is a version of the original Reversi game of the late 1800s. You can learn more about it in this wikipedia page.
• In a nutshell, when you place a piece down, any pieces of your opponent that are located in between your pieces will turn into yours. Using example below, when Red place a piece on C5, the blue pieces on D5 and E5 turns into red because they are "surrounded" by red on the ends (C5 and F6).

• So you keep playing until there are no more spaces to play. Then at the end, whoever has more pieces will win.
• This is a game strategy, and here I will show you some tips to help you win.

Tip #1: Prioritize the space you want to put your piece on

• Generally, the edges of the board are your top priority, especially the corners.
• If you can, these corners should be your #1 pick, the reason is that there is no way you can lose that piece.

• Here's an example, I got my piece on the corner of A8, and it gave give me an advantage across the board, vertically horizontally and diagonally. So I put my piece on F3, and turn the entire row.

• Below is another example of Red player utilizing the edge pieces to overtake the whole row.

Tip #2: Avoid the RED Zones

• Below are the red zones, where you should try your best to avoid playing your pieces on. The reason is that if you place your piece on these slots, you give your opponent the opportunity to take over the edges (remember tip #1?)

• HOLD ON, 8 of those slots are also the edges, which you told me to take priority on. Why you're telling me now that they are red zones?

• The reason is that if you put your piece there, now you opponent can have the chance to take the corner piece, which is the last thing you want. I'll give you an example.
• Starting from the left picture, the Red player thought that he could be smart and place the piece on H2, thus taking out 3 of my pieces (middle picture). However, by doing so, he gave me the opportunity to place my Blue piece on the corner of H1.

• So in the end, think of these 8 slots as more of Yellow zone instead of Red. They are good to take advantage of, but at the same time, proceed with caution.