FlipSight : The First Move and the Three Openings

Where does the opening end?

The first part of the game is called the opening. There is no fixed rule for where it ends; it usually means the first 10 to 20 moves, and some say the opening ends when someone starts playing on the edge squares. In games between strong players, the opening can decide the main course of the game.

Black's first move: all four squares are the same move

Black can first play in four places: D3, C4, F5 and E6. Because the board is symmetric, they are the same move in different directions. Still, we recommend always playing your first move on the same square. Seeing the same shapes in the same direction makes familiar positions easier to recognize. Like the FlipSight Opening Dictionary, this lesson uses C4 as the reference.

After Black C4, White can play in three places. By their direction relative to Black C4 they are called perpendicular (E3), diagonal (C3) and parallel (C5).

White's second move: perpendicular, diagonal, parallel

The opening splits three ways with White's second move. The perpendicular and diagonal openings are played all the time even by strong players, while the parallel opening is considered bad for White (Black +8 by the FlipSight book evaluation). Among the more than 130,000 tournament games collected at Othelloclub, about 65% are perpendicular, about 34% diagonal and only about 1% parallel, and after the parallel opening Black won about 64%.

Quiet central moves in the opening too

The opening works on the same ideas as the middle game. As you learned in chapter 3, look for quiet moves that touch fewer empty squares. In the opening, with few discs and empty edges, keeping your discs together in the center is especially important. Holding the center leaves you more quiet moves later and tends to push the opponent into moves toward the outside. So sometimes you flip a little more to take central discs and prepare your next quiet move.

Exercise

White replied with the parallel opening (C5). Black to move. What is the best move?

The board after White replied perpendicular (E3). For Black's third move, F6 (Tiger) and F5 (Cat) are best at 0 by the FlipSight book evaluation, followed by F4 (Rabbit) at -2. All three lead to named openings. F3, leaning toward the edge, is -4, and F2, which is not in the book and sticks out alone, has an engine prediction of -10. In the opening several moves are often about equally good, and which one you choose decides the branch of the opening.

Exercise

White replied with the diagonal opening (C3). Black to move. What is the best move?

When you leave the book line

A move that leaves a named sequence (a book line) is sometimes called out of opening. Leaving the book does not mean you will lose. Understanding the meaning of each move, and answering an unfamiliar move with the principles of the center and quiet moves, matters more than memorizing sequences.