Reversi: the Game Queens Played

London, 1883. Two Englishmen argue over who invented the disc-flipping game, each printing his own rules.

A Court Pastime

A century earlier, a similar game lived at court: discs placed on a board, rival colors flipped by a move. Queen Elizabeth I is said to have loved such turncoats — trap a row, and enemy stones become yours. In the 19th century the game got patented; in the 20th it returned as Othello in millions of copies. The mechanic never changed: place a disc to close a rival row, and the row changes color.

The Same Board on My Screen

I start a game against the AI and see the same 64 squares. The opening feels generous: you flip five or six discs per move, the board turns black. Then comes the bill: the opponent quietly takes the corners, and a corner disc can never be flipped. The ending is decided not by the middle but by four corners — whoever takes them holds the lines. My AI plays exactly that way: it grabs corners and flips in bulk.

The Same Lesson

Courtiers four centuries ago and I last night lost the same way: we chased the middle and gave away the corners. There is a mode where the AI plays both sides — watch a couple of those games, the lesson shows without costing your nerves.

The board waits. Reversi