World Othello Championship 2026: Helsinki, 25 to 28 November
Published · By TG, the site operator
The 48th World Othello Championship (WOC) will be played in Helsinki, Finland, from 25 to 28 November 2026. The World Othello Federation (WOF) named the host city in March, and the championship now has its own site with the schedule, venues and prizes. It is a long-running event: the first WOC was held in 1977.
The four days
- 25 November: registration and the opening ceremony at the VALO Hotel.
- 26 November: Swiss rounds 1 to 7 at Shakkiareena.
- 27 November: Swiss rounds 8 to 13.
- 28 November: semi-finals and finals, with the closing ceremony in the evening.
How the title is decided
Under the WOC rules dated June 2026, the top four after 13 rounds, with playoff games if a qualifying place is tied, meet in the semi-finals: first against fourth and second against third. Semi-finals and the final are best of three games, and if the points are level after three games the total disc count decides. Each player gets 30 minutes per game in the Swiss rounds, 35 in a semi-final and 40 in the final. The same rounds also seed separate women's and youth knockouts (youth means 18 or younger at the end of the year) and decide the team title, where each nation counts its three best results. The new champion receives US$3,000 and a trophy.
Last year in Ankara, Türkiye, Japanese players took the top four places: Seiya Kurita won, ahead of Yusuke Takanashi, Takashi Yamakawa and Kento Urano. Miu Hisamatsu of Japan won the women's title. The Helsinki site links a YouTube stream and live standings for anyone who wants to follow along.
Tournament rules next to this board
The WOF's official rules are the rules this site enforces: an 8 by 8 board, Black moves first, every outflanked line flips, and the game ends when neither side can move, sometimes before the board is full. What changes at a championship is how a game is run.
- Passing. A WOC player with no legal move passes by pressing the clock, and nobody may pass while a move exists. Here the turn goes to the other side by itself, and the status line tells you so.
- Scoring. In a WOC game, empty squares left at the end are added to the winner's total, and a draw is always recorded as 32–32. This site counts only the discs on the board. The winner is the same either way; only the margin differs.
- Touch-move. A WOC player who touches a square with the apparent intention of playing there must play it, if it is legal. Against the computer here you can press Undo, but nothing forces you to.
- The clock. Computer games on this site have no time limit. If you want to feel a 30-minute game, keep a timer next to the screen.
Practise like a semi-finalist
A best-of-three match rewards a player who can win with either colour. Set the computer to Hard, play one game as Black, where you move first, and one as White, where the computer opens, without using Undo. Count the discs in both games as well, because the disc total is what breaks the tie when a WOC match ends level. If you lose discs late in those games, read our guide to why a corner stays put, then start a new game.
Sources
- World Othello Championship 2026 — World Othello Federation, 21 March 2026
- WOC 2026: Tournament Schedule — World Othello Championship 2026 (official site)
- WOC 2026: Venue — World Othello Championship 2026 (official site)
- WOC 2026: Prize Pool — World Othello Championship 2026 (official site)
- WOC 2026 - Information for Media and Press — World Othello Championship 2026 (official site), 3 July 2026
- The 48th World Othello Championship (home page) — World Othello Championship 2026 (official site)
- World Othello Championships Rules (June 2026) — World Othello Federation
- WOC history: World Othello Championship 2025, Ankara — World Othello Federation
- Official rules for the game Othello — World Othello Federation
- What is Othello? — World Othello Federation
Written by the operator of this site from the sources listed above. Spotted a mistake? Email warmeve.label@gmail.com and it will be corrected.