No. Othello flips opposing discs in straight lines on an 8 × 8 board; Go captures surrounded groups and scores territory or area. They both use black and white pieces, but their board geometry, legal moves and goals differ.
The differences at a glance.
| Feature | Othello | Go |
|---|---|---|
| Common board | 8 × 8 squares | 19 × 19 intersections; smaller learning boards are common |
| Where pieces go | Inside squares | On line intersections |
| Starting position | Four central discs | Usually empty in an even game |
| Capture idea | Outflank a line and flip discs | Remove a group with no liberties |
| Passing | Required only when no legal move exists | A player may pass; consecutive passes normally end play |
| Final goal | More discs of your color | More points under the chosen territory or area rules |
A sandwich is different from a surrounded group.
In Othello, you place a disc only when it traps at least one opposing disc in a continuous horizontal, vertical or diagonal line. The line must end with a disc you already own. Captured discs stay on the board and change color. There is no separate pool of captured prisoners.
In Go, adjacent stones form groups. The empty intersections next to a group are its liberties. A group with no liberties is captured and removed. A stone does not flip to the opponent's color. Go also has restrictions, including rules against certain repeated positions, that do not belong to Othello.
This means a move that looks natural in one game may be illegal or strategically meaningless in the other. You cannot place an Othello disc anywhere simply to build a shape; it must capture a line on that turn.
The final count measures different things.
Othello ends when neither side can make a legal placement. Its core goal is to finish with more discs showing your color. A lead halfway through can disappear because discs keep changing color. Our game displays the live disc count and then announces the final result.
Go scoring depends on the rules being used. Territory scoring and area scoring count different components, and compensation points may be given to white. Counting only how many black and white stones are physically visible is not a reliable way to score a Go game.
Which board were you looking for?
If you remember a green board, discs placed inside squares and pieces being flipped from black to white, you were probably looking for Othello or modern Reversi. You can play that game here. It starts from four center discs and has a compact board to explore.
If you remember stones placed on intersecting lines, groups being surrounded and a fight for territory, you were probably thinking of Go. The British Go Association's introduction explains its basic rules.
Both games reward practice and careful reading of the position. Board size alone is not a useful measure of how challenging a game will feel. To start with this site's game, follow our Othello rules and then try the computer opponent.