Computer Scientist Solves The Game of Othello

With a mind-boggling number of possible board positions, Othello is the largest game ever solved.

The Physics arXiv Blog iconThe Physics arXiv Blog
By The Physics arXiv Blog
Nov 7, 2023 2:52 PMNov 7, 2023 3:52 PM
black-and-white-Othello-stone-green-board
(Credit:Toru Kimura/Shutterstock)

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Anybody who has played tic-tac-toe has probably worked out that the game can always be drawn, provided neither player makes a mistake. Indeed, it is straightforward to create an algorithm that guarantees a win or draw regardless of the moves made by the opponent.

This is a trivial example of a game that has been “solved” – one in which the outcome is determined from the start. There are many others that have also been solved but plenty that have not.

For game theorists and computer scientists, the difficulty in solving a game generally depends on the number of possible positions. For example, the game of Connect 4 on a 6x7 grid has 4,531,985,219,092 possible positions. Computer scientists solved this in 1988 by showing that the player who goes first can always force a win.

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