Reversi rules PDF

What is on the sheet

One side of A4, laid out to be read standing up over a board rather than studied at a desk.

• The five rules, numbered, in plain English.
• A diagram of the starting position with coordinates.
• How to read a1 to h8 notation, in three lines.
• The three things beginners get wrong.
• A short glossary: corner, X-square, mobility and stable disc, which are the four words you will hear anyone discussing the game use.

The rules, in short

If you only need them for the next ten minutes, they are here as well. The PDF is the same text.

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1. Set the board up. Four discs in the middle four squares. White on d4 and e5, black on d5 and e4, so the colours sit diagonally opposite. Black moves first. Setup in detail.
2. Make a legal move. Place a disc on an empty square so that one or more of your opponent's discs sit in an unbroken line between your new disc and another disc of your own colour. The line can run across, down or diagonally. If it traps nothing, it is not a legal move. Legal moves.
3. Flip what you trapped. Every trapped disc turns to your colour. One move can trap in several directions at once and all of them flip. Discs are never moved to a different square once placed.
4. Pass only when you must. If no square on the whole board would flip anything, you pass and your opponent goes again. You may not pass when a legal move exists. Passing.
5. Finish and count. The game ends when neither player has a legal move, usually when all 64 squares are full. Most discs wins, an equal count is a draw. In tournament play any empty squares are awarded to the winner. Scoring.

Printing it

1. A4, one page, black and white. Nothing on the sheet needs colour.
2. On US Letter, choose Fit to printable area. The margins are wide enough that nothing is lost.
3. For a games box, print on card and trim it to sit inside the lid. Rules sheets that live in the box get read; rules sheets in a drawer do not.

What this sheet is not

It is not the tournament rulebook. The World Othello Federation's official rules go much further, covering equipment standards, clocks, illegal move penalties, what happens when a player runs out of discs and how disputes are settled. If you are playing in a rated event, read those instead. The official Othello rules.

It also does not teach strategy, deliberately. The five rules take a minute; knowing what to do with them takes longer. Start with tips for beginners, then corner strategy, then mobility.

Which name should the sheet use?

The file says Reversi. The rules are the modern Othello rules, which is what everyone plays. Othello is a live registered trademark, so a free downloadable sheet uses the public domain name for the identical game. Nothing about the rules differs between the two. Reversi vs Othello.

More things to print or play

• Printable 8x8 board, PDF and PNG, with coordinates.
• The full glossary, beyond the four words on the sheet.
• Notation, for writing games down.
• The board on this site, which marks your legal moves while you are still learning to spot them.