Setup
Reversi board setup
The short answer
Place four discs on the four centre squares. White goes on d4 and e5, black goes on d5 and e4, so each colour sits on its own diagonal. The other 60 squares start empty and Black moves first. Every game of modern Reversi and Othello begins from this exact position.
Setting up takes about five seconds once you have seen it, and the diagram below is the whole answer. The rest of this page covers the layouts people build by accident, and what actually goes wrong with each one.
The starting position
Read the coordinates around the edge like a chessboard: columns a to h run left to right, rows 1 to 8 run top to bottom. So d4 and e5 are the two squares on the falling diagonal, and d5 and e4 are the two on the rising one.
Four discs on the board, 60 squares empty, and the two colours crossing each other in the middle. That crossed shape is the point. It is what gives Black something to trap on move one.
Doing it without coordinates
Most boxed sets have no letters or numbers printed on them. Here is the version that needs no notation at all:
- Find the middle four squares. Four squares meet at the centre point of the board. Those are the ones.
- Put a white disc top left of that block, and another bottom right. They should touch corner to corner.
- Fill the other two with black. They will also touch corner to corner, crossing the white pair.
- Give Black the first move. Everything else is empty.
What Black can do from here
A correct setup gives Black exactly four legal opening moves, marked below: d3, c4, f5, e6. Each one traps a single white disc against a black disc on the far side.
If your board offers Black more or fewer than four moves, something is out of place. That is a quick way to check a setup before you start. How legal moves work and why Black opens go further.
Setup mistake 1: the colours in rows
The most common slip is laying the four discs out in two rows, with both white discs along the top of the block and both black discs along the bottom.
This one is worth understanding, because it does not break. Black still has 4 legal moves from it: c3, d3, e3, f3. The board simply starts a different game, and every opening name, every diagram and every piece of published theory stops applying.
There is history behind that. Original Victorian Reversi let the two players place their first four discs into the centre themselves, alternating, so both the crossed layout and this parallel one could occur. Othello removed the choice and fixed the crossed layout, which is one of the real differences between the two games. Reversi vs Othello covers the rest.
Setup mistake 2: four discs of one colour
Less common, but it happens when someone tips the box out and lines four discs up the same way round.
This one really is broken. Black has 0 legal moves and White has 0, because there is nothing of the other colour to trap. The game would be over before it started.
Swapping the colours over is fine
Putting black on d4 and e5 with white on d5 and e4 is the same position seen in a mirror. Black still has four legal moves, just on the other diagonal: e3, f4, c5, d6.
Nothing about the game changes. The reason everyone uses white on d4 and e5 is that published games, opening names and diagrams all assume it, so a shared convention saves a lot of confusion. Set your board up that way and you can follow any book or transcript without turning it round in your head.
Setting up on something that is not an Othello board
Any 8x8 grid works. A chessboard, a draughts board, a printed sheet of paper. The dark and light squares on a chessboard make no difference at all, since Reversi ignores square colour.
For discs, anything two-sided will do: draughts pieces if you are willing to swap them, coins, poker chips with a marked face, or bottle tops. Goro Hasegawa's first version of Othello used Go stones and milk bottle caps. If you would rather print something, there is a printable board with coordinates on it, and a rules sheet to go with it. For a real set, what to look for in an Othello set.
Start from this position
The board on the home page sets itself up correctly every time and marks the four opening moves for you, so you can see the position above as a working board rather than a picture. Play the first move against the computer and watch which disc flips, or use the two player board to show someone else the setup without explaining a single coordinate.
Next: how to play, step by step, or the complete ruleset.
Frequently asked questions
How do you set up an Othello board?
Put four discs on the four centre squares. White goes on d4 and e5, black goes on d5 and e4, so each colour sits on a diagonal. Leave the other 60 squares empty and let Black move first.
Which colour goes on which square?
White on d4 and e5, black on d5 and e4, using columns a to h left to right and rows 1 to 8 top to bottom. The only thing that matters is that each colour is on a diagonal, not in a row.
Does it matter which diagonal each colour takes?
No. Swapping the colours gives the mirror image of the same game, and Black still has four legal opening moves. Tournament sets and diagrams use white on d4 and e5 so that everyone is describing the same board.
How many discs do you start with in Othello?
Four on the board, two of each colour. A boxed set holds 64 discs in total, usually described as 32 each, although the discs are two-sided so there is really only one pile. More on the disc count.
Can I set up a Reversi board on a chessboard?
Yes. A chessboard or draughts board is the same 8x8 grid. You need 64 two-sided counters, or any two sets of counters you are willing to swap in and out. You can also print a board.
Where do the discs go if there are no coordinates on my board?
Find the four squares in the very middle of the board. Fill all four, with matching colours facing each other diagonally. That is the whole setup.