O info - 12 Feb 1978 (AS@DM)

O is a program that plays the game of Othello.  To run O, type O^K  on
DM or AI or ML, type :SYS2;O on MC.  Type ? <CR> to get a list of  the
commands.  Moves are typed as two digits, giving the vertical and then
the horizontal coordinate of the square  in which you wish to place  a
token.  For example, 81 means move in the lower-left corner.

The two players are designated white (@) and black (*).  Black  always
moves  first.  The  machine and  the person alternate  playing  black.
Which one plays black in the first game is selected at random.

A brief description of the game of Othello follows:

Othello is played on a board containing 64 squares arranged in 8  rows
of 8 columns.  There are two players, designated white and black.  The
two players  alternate making  moves.  A  move consists  of placing  a
token of the player's color on an  empty square of the board.  A  move
is legal if  it CAUSES  one or  more of  the opponent's  tokens to  be
surrounded on a line, either  horizontal, vertical, or diagonal.   For
example, considering  the position  shown in  the first  board  below,
legal moves for white (@) are marked W in the second board, and  legal
moves for black (*) are marked B in the third board:

- - - - - - - -		- - - - - - - -		- - B B B B - -
- - - @ @ - - -		- - - @ @ - - -		- - - @ @ - - -
- - * * @ * - -		- W * * @ * W -		B - * * @ * - -
- @ - - * * * -		- @ W W * * * -		B @ - B * * * -
- @ * - @ * - -		- @ * W @ * W W		B @ * B @ * - -
- @ * * * * * -		- @ * * * * * W		B @ * * * * * -
- - * * @ - - -		- W * * @ - W -		B - * * @ B - -
- - * - - - - -		- W * W W - - -		- - * B B B - -

When a player moves onto a square, all of the opponents's pieces  that
are surrounded (as described above) are changed to the player's pieces
(in up to 8 different directions).  This rule is NOT transitive.   For
example, if black  makes the move  indicated by X  in the first  board
below, then the result is as shown in the second board.

	- - - - - - - -		- - - - - - - -
	- - * - - - - -		- - * - - - - -
	- - * @ - - - -		- - * * - - - -
	- - * @ @ - - -		- - * @ * - - -
	- - * - - @ @ -		- - * - - * @ -
	- - - - * @ @ -		- - - - * @ * -
	- * @ @ @ @ @ X		- * * * * * * *
	- - - - - - - -		- - - - - - - -

If a player  has no legal  moves, his turn  is forfeited.  If  neither
player has any legal moves, then the game is over.  The object of  the
game is to  end up with  more of your  pieces on the  board than  your
opponent.

The 'L' command will cause the  program to list your legal moves.   It
does this by drawing  a new board and  marking the positions of  legal
moves with '?'.  The 'A' command is similar, except that the moves are
marked with letter values  that indicate some  measure of goodness  or
badness ('A' is very good, 'Z'  is very bad).  Please note that  these
values are only  rough estimates.  The   analysis is NOT  the same  as
that used by the program.  If you follow the anaysis blindly, you will
lose almost every game.  Using  the 'A' command is  a good way to  get
started playing Othello, but  to win, you must  begin to use your  own
judgement.