Only the "Final Disc Count" Decides It

Let's say it once more: the count in Othello is only the disc count when the game ends. Being behind on discs entering the endgame is no problem at all. In fact, the side behind on discs is often ahead in stable discs and mobility. It's common to sweep the board from a small minority in the closing moves.

Count the Stable Discs

Your most reliable asset in the endgame is stable discs — discs that can never be flipped again. Corners, and the edge discs connected to them, are the prime examples. Estimating how many stable discs each side will finish with gives you a read on who's winning.

🔑 The endgame lens Think in terms of the discs that will be stable at the end, not the count right now. Discs that will flip don't count.

Parity

The famous endgame technique is parity. Divide the remaining empty squares into "regions." Because players alternate, which side gets to play the last move in a region tends to be decided by whether that region's empty-square count is odd or even.

Roughly: keep each region even and arrange to make the last move yourself, and you tend to come out ahead. The side that plays last can lock in discs with no fear of them being flipped back — worth several squares.

The exact math is hard, so as a beginner/intermediate it's enough to hold the instinct: don't give your opponent the last move in the endgame.

The Last-Move Advantage

Letting your opponent play first in a region and then closing it yourself is the last-move advantage. Take it, and you lock in that region's discs safely, gaining squares in the endgame. Resist the urge to move first — let your opponent commit.

A Practical Endgame Routine

  1. Look at corners and stable discs first — without taking them automatically. Across 400 solved positions, the corner was best 50.8% of the time.
  2. Avoid X- and C-squares to the end (make your opponent play them).
  3. Track the empty-square regions and keep the last move for yourself.
  4. Once the position is readable, count discs and choose the maximum.
💡 Train the endgame in Game Dojo One slip in the endgame can be fatal. Use undo to try branches and watch how the evaluation bar moves — you'll see parity and the last-move advantage with your own eyes.

Parity — A Concrete Example

Divide the empty squares into "regions." Say two empties sit together near a corner. If the opponent plays one first, you play the last one and close the region (you get the last move there). But if a region has an odd number of empties (one or three), the last move tends to fall to the opponent. So in the endgame you try to keep each region even and arrange to make the last move yourself. The side that plays last locks in discs with no fear of a flip-back — worth several squares.

Counting Stable Discs (a routine)

  1. Note the corners you hold.
  2. Count the discs running along the edges from those corners (these are stable).
  3. Do the same for the opponent and estimate the final stable-disc difference.

Think in terms of discs that will be stable at the end, not the count right now — stable discs don't move no matter how much flips in between.

The Last-Move Advantage in Practice

Letting the opponent play first in a region and closing it yourself is the last-move advantage. Resist the urge to move first, let them commit, then close — you lock in that region's discs safely. It's a quiet but powerful way to gain several squares in the endgame.

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