Playing

Basics
A move consists of outflanking your opponents disc(s), then flipping the outflanked disc(s) to reveal your color. A move is performed by placing the mouse pointer over the desired square then click.
To outflank means to place a disc on the board so that your opponent's row(s) of disc(s) is bordered at each end by a disc of your color. A row may be made up of one or more discs.
The game starts with each player having two discs automatically placed in the center four squares of the board in the following pattern:
opening position
opening position
Board Layout
Menu Bar 	 The Menu Bar contains four choices of drop-down menus. These are File, Game, Settings, and Help. click or the underlined letter to show the drop-down menu.
The toolbar 	Provides the player with icon shortcuts for commonly used actions. These are Stop Thinking, Undo Move, Shrink Board, Enlarge Board, Get Hint, and Get Help. Place the mouse pointer over any of these icons and click to activate.
Game Board 	The game board consists of a 8 by 8 square board divided into 64 squares.
Status Bar 	The status bar contains useful information such as whose turn it is, whicn color represents each player and the number of squares each player controls on the board.

Rules
Blue always moves first.
If on your turn you cannot outflank and flip at least one opposing disc, your turn is forfeited and your opponent moves again. However, if a move is available to you, you may not forfeit your turn.
A disc may outflank any number of discs in one or more rows in any number of directions at the same time - horizontally, vertically or diagonally. A row is defined as one or more discs in a continuous straight line.
You may not skip over your own color disc to outflank an opposing disc.
Discs may only be outflanked as a direct result of a move and must fall in the direct line of the disc placed down.
All discs outflanked in any one move must be flipped, even if it is to the player's advantage not to flip them.
Once a disc is placed on a square, it can never be moved to another square later in the game.
When it is no longer possible for either player to move, the game is over. Discs are then counted and the player with the majority of his or her color discs on the board is declared the winner.
It is possible for a game to end before all 64 squares are filled.

Tips
Try to place pieces on the edges whenever possible. Your opponent cannot outflank these pieces.
Avoid placing pieces on one of the three neighbor fields of a corner unless you are absolutely sure that your opponent will not be able to put a piece on a corner.
Sometimes it is better to offer some pieces to your opponent
Try to put pieces on fields which prevent your opponent from moving.
Try to force your opponent to put a piece in a neighboring field of a corner.