Each "match" between two players consists of two simultaneous Othello games with the same randomly chosen start position; each player is white in one game and black in the other. The winner is the player with the largest disc total in the two games. Moves are sent out to the players and observers only after both players make a move, to prevent move copying.
This makes it easier for programs to play: no need for opening book, since the start position is random; no need to think on the opponent's time, since you will be thinking about your other game then. The program just looks at the board and returns a move.
This makes it harder for humans to play, since you need to keep track of separate plans in two games simultaneously.