http://web.cs.ualberta.ca/~brock/othello.html (World Wide Web Directory, 06/1995)Version 1.7 by Mark Brockington. Use the information here to your heart's content, but please tell everyone where you got the information from. It would be really bad (illegal, even!) to use this information without denoting its source (or sources). The prices given here reflect the most recent information I have available to me. Membership rates may be subject to change at any time. If they change, I will be happy to update the list so that it does not surprise others.
Thanks to Olivier Berthier, Emmanuel Lazard, Colin Springer, Graham Brightwell, Joel Feinstein, Chris Wakelin, Steve Thomas and the rest of you who have yet to step forward and add things to the document.
Steve Thomas writes: Othello is actually the third incarnation of similar games. The first was called Annexation (or Annex, according to a Dec. 94 Games and Puzzles magazine by R C Bell). It was not a success. The game was later marketed unchanged as Reversi, and sold millions.
Reversi differs from Othello in two respects. In Reversi, the board starts empty, and in each of the first two turns each player plays a stone of his own colour in one of the centre four squares. In Othello, this is done for you, eliminating one of the starting configurations of Reversi.
If you are unable to play at Reversi, instead of simply missing your go, you hand your stone over to your opponent, who, in effect, gets three turns in a row.
2. What are the rules of the game?
The official rules of Othello,
as outlined in the North American version of the game, are given here.
The following are rule variances that I know about. If anyone has additions to make to this list, please let me know and I'll add them.
In tournament play, there is an additional rule that is used occasionally. The final score of the game is important for determining tie breaks in tournaments. Thus, when there are empty squares on the board, they are given to the winner of the game.
Chess clocks are normally used to time tournament games, with the standard time limit being 30 minutes for all moves.
In North American tournaments, there is a time default rule that can be somewhat confusing. Normally, a time default would be scored as a 64-0 wipeout for the side that didn't default. However, when a time default is noticed in North American tournaments, the clock is set to two minutes before the hour and restarted.
If only one side defaults, the player that did not default gets the maximum of 33 discs, or their disc count as it appears on the board: this guarantees the person who didn't default that they will win the game. If both players default by running over once, the final score of the game is computed as it would be in a normal game. If any player goes over this two minute grace period, the game is stopped immediately and scored as a 64-0 wipeout for the other player.
I am not sure if there are rules established by any federation for blind players.
3. Who are the best human (computer) players in
the world?
The current human world champion is Masaki Takizawa, who played for the
Japanese team at the 1994 World Championships in Paris.
The top computer program is Logistello, a Sparc 10 program by Michael Buro.
The current rating lists on the other page will give you an idea of who The other top players in the world are. It is the author's opinion that computers can beat any human in a prolonged match; however, this superiority has yet to be proven over a match of any length.
4. What is the format of the World Championships?
To qualify for the World Championship, you must be (a) human [that's right, no
aliens or computers allowed], (b) qualify as one of the top three players
in your country. Qualification information can be obtained from your
country's Othello Federation.
The World Championship is normally run as a thirteen round Swiss System
tournament which is played over two days.
On the third day, the top four players from the Swiss are seeded 1 through 4. #1 plays #4 in a best out of three game match, while #2 plays #3. The choice of colour for the third game is given to the player who is seeded higher. The winners of these two semi-final matches meet in the final; another best two out of three affair.
The 1995 World Championship are rumoured to be held in Amsterdam. Please see the Upcoming Tournaments list for more precise information, as it becomes available.
6. Are there any books on the game of Othello?
Most of the books written about the game of Othello are in Japanese.
Unfortunately, I can't read Japanese, and neither can most of my friends.
Perhaps some kind soul might tell the rest of us what the good books are.
In the English language, the best manual I have seen (to date) is the "Othello: Brief & Basic" manual written by Ted Landau. It is available through the British Othello Federation and the United States Othello Association.
In French, there is a very reasonable manual given to first-time subscribers to FFORUM "A la decouverte d'Othello" by Emmanuel Lazard.
Rumour has it that there are a number of French players in the process of writing a large book on the game of Othello. I will be sure to put the information here when we have it.
7. I want to write a computer program that plays
Othello. Are there any academic papers written about computer Othello?
These are the four papers that I would personally recommend to interested
Artificial Intelligence students.
8. Where can I get more information about my
nearest Othello Federation?
I'm trying to keep a "complete" list of Othello Federations here. If you have
others to add to this list, or if you notice any incorrect information, please
let me. know
Address: 920 Northgate Avenue
Waynesboro, VA
22980-3425
U.S.A.
Membership Rate: $7.00 US for U.S. residents
$11.00 US, otherwise
Address: FFO (Adhesions)
B.P. 383
75626 PARIS Cedex 13
France
Telephone: +33 (1) 45.35.55.86
Membership Rate: 120 francs (basic rate)
90 francs (juniors)
150 francs (foreigners)
Address: David Haigh
62 Romsey Road
Winchester
Hants.
SO22 5PH
England
Membership Rate: GBP 6.00/year for British subscribers,
GBP 55.00 for 10 years
GBP 8.00/year for foreigners
GBP 75.00 for 10 years
As part of the first year's membership, British members
receive a copy of "Othello: Brief and Basic" by Ted Landau.
10. Where can I find FTP sites containing
repositories of information about Othello?
The University of Paderborn
maintains a site with a number of good PC games
and other files to do with the game of Othello.
The Paderborn directory has been mirrored for North America at the University of Alberta.
11. Which newsgroup deals with Othello?
rec.games.abstract is the newsgroup that deals with Othello.
For computer Othello, comp.ai occasionally contains some information about game-tree searching. A new newsgroup (comp.ai.games) is being dominated by computer game postings, such as Doom and Heretic. However, it is a new place to discuss game-tree searching, evaluation function learning, et cetera.
rec.games.othello has gone to the RFD phase a couple of times, but it is not likely to pass the voting phase, due to the limited traffic Othello has seen on rec.games.abstract, and the size of the Othello community currently on the Internet.
Mark Brockington (brock@cs.ualberta.ca)