Tempo
From The Othello Wiki Book Project
A tempo is a quiet move that doesn't provide the opponent with any extra good moves.
(Post examples)
"Tempo" is Italian for "time". A commonly used plural of tempo is "tempos", but the correct plural of tempo is tempi.
Tempi act like passes - playing a tempo creates no new opportunities for the opponent, while forcing them to move again.
They can be used to:
- Force an opponent to play a bad move (if all of their existing choices are bad)
- Reduce their mobility
- Run them out of moves
- Prevent your opponent doing the above to you.
Timing is crucial in deciding when to use tempi. Playing a tempo too early throws away a good advantage. Leaving it too late could allow the opponent could take the move themselves, poison it or otherwise render it useless.
Play in othello involves players making alternate moves: Black makes a move/White makes a move. This is the "time" part,
- black, white, black, white, black, white - like a ticking clock.
Consider firstly the board as one big region where tempo is in balance and the ticking clock scenario applies.
This is often called natural tempo
Consider moves 11. g4 to 20. f3 of the Rotating flat opening:
f5d6c5f4e3c6d3f6e6d7g4c4g5c3f7d2e7f2c8f3
This is a good example of the nature of the natural tempo of the game, with each black move balanced by a white move that causes the position to slowly rotate.
As the board fills however various regions appear, with each region with its own time signature.
For example in one particular region the move sequence may force white to miss a beat. So the time signature ends up being
- black, white, black, black.
Consider the position in Figure 1.0, this is obviously a poor position for white.
Figure 1.0
It's black move and needs to make the most of the north-west region. By following the continuation below black gains a tempo in the north-west region. Allowing white one move to black three and finishing with a nice finish for all remaining moves.
Black is said to be "Gaining" a tempo because there is no natural reply for white in that region, while white is said to be "Losing" a tempo.
In other scenarios white might be forced to play into another region on the beat that it misses, hence using up a move in other regions and restricting mobility further.
Gaining a tempo can be used to 'force' your opponent to have to break through a wall, or run out of good moves requiring them to give away a corner, or just give you that slight edge you need to be able to win.
The following are examples of tempo gaing maneuvers.
| Table of contents |
Baited tempo swindle
Diagonal Grab for tempo in corner
Double tempo edge bridge
Double tempo edge swindle
Double wedge, triple tempo
Landau Maneuver
Landau corner exchange
