Reversi Strategy and Tactics

In My Humble Opinion
1

My relative absence from the Board of late could be attributed solely to the machinations of the Mother Corporation, but in truth I’d have to admit a new found fascination with Internet Reversi has contributed. It’s absolutely stunning what time this can occupy.

So what can you, my fellow gear-heads, offer in the way of playing tips?

Obviously, getting “feet on the ground,” or, achieving a defensible space on a side of the board, in anticipation of securing a corner, is paramount.

What have y’all got?

2

I’ve played about 50,000 games of Reversi, so this is one of my few areas of expertise.

Beginners typically try for maximum flip (flipping over as many discs as possible to their color). This seems logical, but it is a consistently losing strategy against anyone but other beginners.

Intermediate players realize the error of maximum flip and go for minimal flip. This is an improvement over maximum flip because the fewer discs you have on the board, the fewer moves your opponent has. The logic is to run your opponent out of moves, forcing him to give you a corner.

More advanced players use several criteria when deciding on a move. The criteria I use are (In order of importance):

1 Minimal flip
2 Group
3 Inside or one side of opponents disks
4 Break up opponents group
5 Gain control/setting up
So, while it is good to minimize, you might want to forget minimization in favor of keeping your discs in a group.

It is good to learn some strong openings. I think the most common opening is Rose (or rotating flat), and its continuations, particularly the King continuation. Here’s a web site with some common openings:
http://www.enddor.com/reversi/index6.php

Just concentrate on Rose and Tiger first as they are the most common.

Here are some other basic strategies:

The most basic rule of thumb is don’t let your opponent get a corner. You protect the corners by avoiding the ‘X’ squares. These are the squares surrounding a corner. (There are exceptions to this, but I’ll cover that in my advanced course, if I should feel inclined).

Avoid “edge creeping”. Just playing the edges might run your beginner or intermediate player out of moves, but you’re just playing right into the hands of the advanced player. (Edge creeping can be good method of quickly dispatching an inferior player though). Obviously you’ll have to play the edges eventually if you want to win, but I usually just grab the edges at the end of the game.

At the end game, try to control the diagonals. This will allow you to play an X square without losing the corner.

You’ll never get good playing against inferior opponents. The best place to play in my opinion is Yahoo games. They have players ranging from beginner to world champion.

Perhaps later I’ll write further about setting traps and avoiding traps of your opponent.

3

Lots of good advice from Baraqiyal, and I bow to his/her superior expertise.

I’ve played lots of computer/online reversi, and also played a lot against against the old type of opponents (you know, flesh and blood, emotions and tantrums). Everything Baraqiyal says holds true, but may I pass on one simple rule of thumb which has helped many a beginner: look at the block of 16 squares in the centre of the board. If you can play in that block of 16, do so.

That’s all!

4

Well, I’ve managed to spend almost the entirety of my waking hours since leaving work yesterday flipping Reversi discs. It’s odd, in that while do I feel like I am undergoing one of those learning experiences, as I’ve become much better at it in the last couple of days, I still don’t know where it goes on my resume.

Ah, well.

Good advice, Baraqiyal and ianzin! Please do give the advanced course.

As with, I suspect, many, I was first exposed to Reversi in an earlier version of Windows (What? Was it 3.0, or 3.11?). That was strictly playing against the machine, and once you’d learned the algorithm, you could win every time.

For me, this is new to be playing against other people. And it’s a trip!

Minimization is a hard thing to learn. I played for a couple of hours today against a guy (gal? who knows?) who was great at that.

Thanks for the input.

5

Wow! Growth!

I’ve pretty much abandoned the strategy of going for an early capture of the sides in favor of getting feet down on one side and pursuing minimization, forcing my opponent to occupy one side of the board where he eventually has no good moves.

It’s hard to learn, but I’m coming along. I’ve noticed a psychological aspect, that being that I tend to feel like a dog through most of the game, as I occupy only a very minor part of the board, right up until the endgame. And then…BIFF! BOOM! POW! SOCKO! The miserable little troglodytes squirm as I squish them between my toes!

Well, no, it’s not that exciting. And it’s definitely not every time. There’re some sharper knives in the drawer.

I think I’ll go play just one more game before bedtime.

6

Where do you play, Ringo?

7

So far, mostly at MSN’s zone.com, but as per your suggestion, I’ve been over to Yahoo (where I’m grease_finder). I rank myself as an intermediate at both places.