Othello FAQ(Atari 2600)
version 1.0.0
copyright 2004
by Andrew Schultz [email protected]

Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my prior consent. However,
if you write a polite e-mail to me referring to me(and this FAQ) by name,
then I will probably say OK. But if I ignore you that means no--and I am bad
about answering e-mail. Sorry.

**** AD SPACE: ****
My home page: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762

================================

           OUTLINE

 1. INTRODUCTION

 2. WHAT TO DO

 3. STRATEGY

   3-1. VS EASY

   3-2. VS MEDIUM

   3-3. VS HARD

 4. SHUTOUTS!

 5. OTHER RESOURCES

 6. VERSIONS

 7. CREDITS

================================

           OUTLINE

 1. INTRODUCTION

 I always enjoyed playing Atari Othello as a kid. It was a smarter opponent
than the Apple version I had, even on the easy levels. The harder ones tended
to wipe me out, but I enjoyed routing my opponent and feeling like I put in a
good deal of thought. This FAQ is a blend of machine-specific hucksterism and
my own haphazard observations. Many of the strategies are based on what the
Atari does, or the common mistakes a machine may make. Othello for the Apple
is a rather good game, and a good choice for such a simple graphics engine.
But there is one bug that allows you to decimate tougher levels(despite the
fact that it learns the next game) and on the easy levels, there's enough
randomness that you can try to shut your opponent out. Perfectly sound
strategy isn't the issue here, but it keeps continual winning fresh.

 2. WHAT TO DO

 If you're playing Othello, you probably know the rules, but if not, here's
the deal: players alternate turns placing white and black chips on an 8x8
board. The game starts out with two white and two black in the 2x2 center,
similar colors being kitty corner. Your chip must be able to flip chips of
the other color. This can be done if
1) there is a chip of the opposite color adjacent to your square
2) the next square in that direction has a chip of opposite color, or your
color
3) before you reach a wall or an open space, there is a chip of your color

 Once you place a chip, you have no choice what you can flip over. It all
gets turned. You can forfeit a move if you have no legal moves, and if your
opponent doesn't either, the game is over. Whoever has the most chips when
there are no moves left(and there are 60 moves maximum in a game) wins.

 Controlling all this with the Atari is fairly easy. Just use the joystick
and press the fire button while in game play. The mode select switch allows
you to choose among easy, medium, hard and 2-player and A/B difficulty
switches colors. It's also easy to reset the game/machine if things aren't
going well, but it's usually instructional to see what the computer does at
the end to rebut your resources you thought you had.

 The Othello board is divided up into 3 zones based on the squares
encompassing them.

33333333
32222223
32111123
32111123
32111123
32111123
32222223
33333333

 Getting a chip on any square is good, but in 2, you run the risk of getting
a chip flipped by your opponent placing something on 3, which is very good
indeed. Chips on the edge can't be flipped as easily as on the side, and a
corner chip can't be flipped at all.

 The squares in the corners of the 2 are particularly dangerous to put a
chip down on, as if the diagonal is full except for the corners, and your
opponent turns one of the squares to his, he threatens to nab the corner, and
there's nothing you can do about it.

 As you get better you'll find that a lot of the game comes down to the last
person with a safe, non-committal move before he has to make a move that
cedes a corner or critical side square. If you stake out two adjacent squares
on the side, you can change this, or better yet, if you find a move that
cedes side/corner squares--but not too many--that is the best route. Waiting
too long can put leave you with only one move left--a very bad one. You also
want to check for moves that cede side squares but force your opponent to
move to cede one. Often in Othello, when you make a bad move, it allows your
opponent a good one, and you have to make another bad move. Being able to
reverse on your opponent and knowing when is a key to winning.

 3. STRATEGY

   3-1. VS EASY

 The easy version is really rather stupid, and you can bait it by going near
the edges and picking off a side square. Then it will eventually cede side
squares, which is a very bad idea indeed, and you can get a corner with
little risk and blow it away. Often you can bait it into placing two side
squares one apart from each other or even placing a side square next to
yours--and to the corner. This makes things very easy. It always seems to go
for the flip that gets it the most squares, and you can sucker it into traps
that way. Just be sure to keep away from the near-corner squares and the
computer usually falls into traps you didn't realize were there.

 Basic rules:

1) don't worry too much abot your opponent flipping you over in the center
2) don't place a token on the edge next to an opponent's token unless you
have a good reason. He'll probably flip it back over. The computer's
haphazard enough on this level you might get away with it once, but don't
count on it.
3) take advantage if the computer does the same.
4) give the computer a chance to make mistakes. Leave something on the edge
for it to pick off. Or give it a reason to drop a square next to the edge.
5) when you get an edge square, just expand slowly from it. The computer may
seem to be ahead count-wise, but eventually his moves will dry up.
6) don't worry too much about the opening. There's no way to lose right off,
although you can get dropped to one chip frequently.
7) never give the computer an excuse to make a good move, i.e. putting two of
his chips next to each other on the side
8) if you're really screwed, try for a swindle. The computer may be too
greedy to take care of the side board.

   3-2. VS MEDIUM

 The computer is a slightly tougher customer now. It generally only trades
off one corner or side square for another. You won't be able to bait it into
an abjectly stupid move, and the computer has some concept of corner squares.
It falls for slightly subtler traps now, such as the following:

.......
.......
.......
B.......
.......  <- place a white here.
B.......
.......
.......

 Or an even more important trick:

.......
.......
B.......
.......
.......
....... <- place a white here if possible and you are in business.
B.......
.......

 In the above diagram, the computer will be forced to cover your white,
whereupon you can wedge a white between two blacks and flip a corner square
next, provided you're able to put a piece down. For that, you'll want to let
a square next to the edge turn black and turn a square far away white.
However, being able to place two tokens together on an edge is very strong.
Just don't get wedged in the process.

 But these are just gimmicks, and the center becomes much more important
against the computer. The first person to go outside the 4x4 square has real
vulnerabilities. If you do go there, you'll often have to trade one corner
square for another.

.......
.......
2.B.....
*...... <- place white here
1.B.....
..W....
.......
.......

 In the sample picture above, placing the white on the asterisk allows black
to take a side square at 1, but you can place a token at 2 to even things up.
You'll need to do a lot of this, and also you'll want to keep track of
squares to move to that are safe as I mentioned in 2. The game probably won't
be resolved until the end, and although you may have to cede a corner square
or two, keeping the side squares even or in your favor until then, along with
finding the right corner to jettison, can make your game much easier. For
instance, if you lose two corners like so...

WBBBBBBW

 ...you still have a good control over the board. Also if you have something
such as this...

WBWWWW..

Wait for white to place something on the top before you do. If it's in the
corner, you can get 6 of the 8 top squares. Next to the corner, you get 7 of
the 8. Of course, you may be forced to play one of these unappetizing squares,
and if you can force your opponent to avoid certain squares late in the game
because nothing's there, you can restrict him. Sometimes evacuating an area
pays dividends, or leaving one risky square open for you(or your opponent) to
play later is good, because there will be even more risky squares around.
Keep in mind that ceding a corner or even two isn't the end of the
world...you can often wedge if you are careful, and you should always look
out for being able to consolidate center squares.

   3-3. VS HARD

 For this you really have to pay attention to the corners in the 4x4 area.
If you can force your opponent into taking a square in the 6x6 border then
you can use that to your advantage--and if you're playing white, this means
making one of the 4x4 squares impossible or distasteful for him to move on,
as if you both move in the 4x4 square, it's your turn to place something
outside on your seventh move. Also don't get too overconfident when you
finally get a corner. Often the computer will rig things near the end so he
gets one too, or so he can get some squares on the inside that are safe.
You'll need to do a good deal of this as well--I can't claim to know about a
center game, but you will note that some squares can be protected for good
i.e.

WWWWW
WBBBW
WWWW
WBBW
WBBW
WWWW
WBBBW
WWWWW

 Here White does have a good deal of the edge, true, but Black's tokens are
unflippable--unless he moves to change that. Getting just a few squares on
the side can mire a center square one color, and with many games on hard
ending in close fashion, you do need to watch this. If you're forced to cede
a corner square, be sure to take as much of the center as you can, or make
sure your opponent is forced into a mediocre move where you can capitalize.

 4. SHUTOUTS!

 It's possible to shut out the medium and hard levels fairly easily. They
have glitches that allow this, although the computer seems to learn from its
mistakes and tries something new the next time you use this line, and its
opening books do appear a bit random.

 For medium/hard, the play is:

e6 f6
f5 f4
f3 d6
c6 d3
f7 c5
c4 c3
c2 e3
e2 d2
d1 b6
a6

Or...

e6 f6
f5 d6
c6 f4
f3 d3
f7 c5
c4 c3
c2 e3
e2 d2
d1 b4
a4 b6
a6 c7
c8

 For easy, the play is a bit tougher. The game's a bit more random, and you
may find you can't walk the computer into this. I have my best luck by
forcing him off to the edge early and then capturing a corner square. Often
you can tempt him into a bad edge move early and then wedge his two chips.
From there, you want to turtle your position so that you gain only
invulnerable squares. Taking the right pieces first in early situations
leaves him with few moves later. Keeping your formation invincible can make
it so he has very few moves. Give the computer a square on the side where he
can flip over a lot of your pieces--and get flipped over right away himself.

 Another big key to winning a shutout and keeping a compact formation is not
expanding too much. Keep your formation on one edge before moving out, never
more than halfway around the edge of the board. If you allow the computer to
wedge a square in the middle of your formation or extend your own, you give
him many options.

 5. OTHER RESOURCES

 There are a few neat sites on Othello on the internet as of 2004. I am not
affiliated with them, nor do I endorse them. But they show some enjoyable
puzzles if the game of Othello interests you for more than just a quick spin
with the pieces.

http://www.maths.nott.ac.uk/othello/othello.html
http://www.maths.nott.ac.uk/othello/beginners.html
http://www.britishothello.org.uk/

End of FAQ proper

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 6. VERSIONS

1.0.0 submitted to GameFAQS 5/10/2004. Should be complete although I am
futzing around a bit confusedly on the later levels.

 7. CREDITS

Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang. They know who they are, and you should,
too, because they get some SERIOUS writing done. Good people too--bloomer,
daremo, falsehead, RetroFreak(that H.E.R.O. FAQ inspired me to take a crack
at an Atari game I'd forgotten,) Snow Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, and
others I forgot.

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