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Nine Men Hall

From the problem cellar

Reversi problem #512

MediumDark · only winning move

Setting up the board…

Dark plays now and only one of the possible discs keeps a winning finish.

The task

To move
Dark
Difficulty
Medium
Goal
only winning move

8 squares are still empty. With the right move the final count is 37 to 27; the other 5 moves do not win. Eight empty squares, and one move wins. Count parity: who gets the last move in each region?

What to look for

  • The target is a corner.
  • Every other move fails, so check each candidate to the end.

How the answer is checked

There is exactly one first move that forces the result; any other first move allows the defence to escape. Moves that keep the forced result are accepted later in the line, and a move that loses it is taken back with a short note.

Show the key move

The key move is a8. The main line runs: a8 · g6 · h7 · h6 · f4 · g3 · h3 · h4.