Reversi (Cont.)

Advanced Strategies for Reversi (Cont.)

The third strategy, mobility, is more difficult to illustrate. It is also counterintuitive. Looking at Figure 4, your first inclination might be to say that Black is firmly in control. In fact, White is in control; Black is currently immobilized, while White has options for taking pieces on every side.

Remember that players are only allowed to make moves that cause one or more pieces to be flipped. By limiting your opponent's choice of such moves, you gain control because you get to choose how the board is developed.
However, it is not easy to achieve a board position where you dominate your opponent in terms of mobility. To do so, you must sacrifice pieces and try to capture central positions instead of pieces along the frontier of play. Figure 5 illustrates this concept. White has too much frontier space, and Black is in control.

The trick to controlling mobility is to constantly look at the board from your opponent's point of view. What moves can you make that will leave your opponent with the fewest available moves?

--- That's all for Reversi ---

Next: Coming up next will be Checker and Backgammon.