Why Othello can be extremely exciting? Because each game can be lost or won in the last few moves, or even in the last move. One last decision can affect the final outcome. Therefore in Othello, endgame strategy is more than “finalizing the gained advantage”. Skillful playing in endings is extremely important.
Continue reading “Othello tutorial p. 5: Endings. How to not fail in last few moves?”
Napoleon Bonaparte was an outstanding strategist but he also had a need to test his strategic skills in games. He played chess but rather badly. Usually, he sought weaker opponents. He also liked draughts and maybe he was quite good in this game. We can guess so because one of the classic shots in international draughts is named after him. We do not know exactly whether he invented it, but learning this shot is another important stage of my draughts tutorial.
Continue reading “International Draughts tutorial p. 4. Napoleon’s shot”
Imagine that games are treasures of different nations, countries, and continents. India had brought Chess and many other games to the world. Go and Mahjong may be seen as the great wealth of China. Europe has developed Checkers and Chess in its modern, western form. And what Africa gave to the world? Mancala of course! A real jewel of Africa. Extremely beautiful. Raw and sophisticated at the same time.
In previous parts of this tutorial I’ve written about the basics of Othello’s strategy, quiet and loud moves and about starting the game. If you already know all this and you’ve played a dozen or tens games, you might have noticed one thing. The moves made at the edge of the board have a huge impact on victory or defeat. In the next lesson we will discuss the edge play.
Continue reading “Othello tutorial, p.4 – Playin’ on the edge!”
Impressive shot is a dream of every draughts player. This is the moment when you make ostensibly silly moves, and at some point you surprise your opponent with multiple jump that gives you a win, superiority or at least a King. Unfortunately making shots is not easy. To learn “shooting” you have to see how others did it in the past.
Continue reading “International Draughts tutorial p. 3. Introduction to shots on devilish example”
In previous parts of my Othello tutorial I wrote on strategy basics and quiet moves. This is very important in the middlegame but in this part I’ll tell you something about starting the game.
Continue reading “Othello tutorial, p. 3 – How to begin well and not end badly?”
In previous Othello lesson I wrote about importance of corners and mobility. Unfortunately knowledge about this isn’t enough to win against an opponent who also tries to win corners and to be mobile. In order to defeat such opponent you need to understand the concept of frontier discs and learn how to do quiet moves and avoid building walls.
Continue reading “Othello tutorial, part 2. Don’t build walls and be quiet”
Would you like to play International (Polish) Draughts better? If so, I think you already know the rules of the game. But maybe you want to win or just better understand mechanics of this beautiful game.
I decided to write a series of articles about International Draughts for people like you. For those, who want to better know Draughts strategies and tactics.
Continue reading “International Draughts tutorial p. 1. Strategy basics”
My article on Reversi and Othello was quite popular. I know some people found it because they were looking for information on Othello strategy and tactics. These people already know how to play, but they don’t know know how to win.
Othello is one of my favorite board games. I spent some time playing, learning strategies and tactics and analyzing my own mistakes. I want to share this knowledge in series of articles. Here’s the first one.
Continue reading “How to win at Othello? Part 1 – Strategy basics, stable discs and mobility”
Bona Ludo 