Why is it called Othello?
The short answer
The game is named after Shakespeare's play Othello. The name was chosen by Shiro Hasegawa, an English literature scholar and the father of Goro Hasegawa, who created the game. The play follows a black general and his white wife while friends and enemies keep switching sides, which is what black and white discs do on the board.
Othello and Reversi are the same game. Reversi is the older English name. Othello is the name the game was given when it was relaunched in Japan in the 1970s, and it came from a Shakespeare play by way of a professor of English.
The play behind the name
Othello is one of Shakespeare's tragedies. Its hero is Othello, a black Moorish general serving Venice, who marries Desdemona, a white Venetian woman. Over the play, his officer Iago turns him against her, and loyalties flip back and forth until it ends in disaster.
MegaHouse, the company that owns the Othello trademark, describes the naming in exactly those terms: a black general and a white wife at the centre of a story where friend and foe keep changing sides, matched to a game where black and white discs turn over and the lead keeps changing hands.
Who picked it
Goro Hasegawa developed the game in Mito, Japan, and registered it under the name Othello in 1971. The name itself came from his father, Shiro Hasegawa, a scholar of English literature. Both MegaHouse and the city of Mito credit Shiro with the name. More on Goro Hasegawa, and who invented the game.
Why the board is green
The same idea runs through the equipment. The green board is said to stand for the green plain where the battle in the play takes place. The city of Mito gives this explanation, and English Wikipedia says the same. The discs are black on one face and white on the other, so every disc on the board is one flip away from changing sides.
Other names for the game
| Name | Where and when |
|---|---|
| Reversi | England, 1880s. The original name, still used by most free apps and sites because it is not a trademark. |
| Othello | Japan, registered 1971 and on sale from 1973. Now a trademark of MegaHouse. |
| Rebarushi | Japan, Meiji era (1868 to 1912). How Reversi was first introduced in Japan, a Japanese spelling of "reversi". |
| Genpei-go | Japan, later. A name Reversi was sold under before Othello. |
| The Game of Annexation | England, around 1870. A claimed forerunner by John W. Mollett, played on a cross-shaped board. Widely repeated but poorly documented. |
Whatever the box says, the rules people play today are Othello's, with the four centre discs set before the first move. Reversi vs Othello sets out the few real differences, and the history of Reversi covers the full story from 1883.
Sources
- MegaHouse, "The secret of Othello's birth" (Japanese), for the play, the reason for the name and Shiro Hasegawa as the person who named it.
- Mito City, "Mito, birthplace of Othello" (Japanese), for Shiro Hasegawa and the green board.
- Reversi on Wikipedia, for the naming, the green board, the 1971 registration and the trademark.
- Kotobank, Genpei-go (Japanese, from Heibonsha's World Encyclopedia), for rebarushi and Genpei-go.
- World Othello Federation, Othello pre-history, for the Annexation claim.
Know the name, now play the game: the board is on the front page, or take on the computer.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Othello called Othello?
It is named after Shakespeare's play Othello. The story centres on a black general, Othello, and his white wife, Desdemona, with allies and enemies switching sides as it goes. A game where black and white discs keep changing sides fitted that picture.
Who named the game Othello?
Shiro Hasegawa, an English literature scholar and the father of Goro Hasegawa, who created the game. MegaHouse, which owns the Othello trademark, and the city of Mito, where the game was developed, both credit him with the name.
Why is the Othello board green?
The green board is said to stand for the green plain where the battle in the play takes place. The city of Mito and English Wikipedia both give this explanation.
What other names does Othello go by?
Reversi is the main one. It is the original English name from the 1880s and the name most free apps use. In Japan the older game was introduced in the Meiji era as rebarushi, from "reversi", and was later sold as Genpei-go.
By what other name is the game Reversi known?
Othello. It is the same game with a fixed starting position, launched in Japan in 1973. Most people today know it by that name. Reversi vs Othello covers the small rule differences.
Why do so many apps call it Reversi instead of Othello?
Othello is a registered trademark, now held by MegaHouse. Reversi is the older, public domain name, so anyone can use it for the same game without a licence. This site does the same.