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The (8x8) board game of pure skill, Othello (also known as Reversi), is not considered a chess variant, but neither is (19x19) Go, and it's mentioned (and even played) here at times, so I thought I'd pass on a wiki of perhaps some interest.

The (8x8) game of Othello is nowadays thought to be practically solved, though not yet provably so. If I understand right, after Black makes an initial move, White always has 3 replies. Two of such lead to draws with optimal play, it's supposed (with greater margin of safety for White in one of these cases), which I find rather surprising (and pleasantly so) personally, while the other first move by White should supposedly lead to a win for Black.

Note that if the game were to played on 4x4 or 6x6 then these cases are strongly solved, i.e. it's proven that White should win in either case:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Othello#Solving_Othello

For those unaware of how to play the game, here's a wiki explaining:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversi