Othello is strongly solved on 4×4 and 6×6 boards, with the second player (white) winning in perfect play. It remains unsolved on a standard 8×8 board, but computer analysis gives thousands of draw lines, or paths to a draw, although no such line has been fully proven.

How does Othello the game end?

In Reversi if one player cannot not play a piece, the game finishes. In Othello, a player without a move simply passes, and the other player keeps playing pieces until the first player can make a move again.

Who wins in Othello?

Under most circumstances, the player who has the fewest discs is winning. As a consequence, good Othello players will often choose moves which flip as few discs as possible, preferably only one.

It seems like since there are an even number of squares on the board (64), and each player gets 30 turns to place a piece on the board, the second player always has the advantage of being able to ‘respond’ or ‘answer’ whatever player 1 does. Of course player 1 can still win if player 2 plays poorly.