Tavli - The Greek Game of Backgammon

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Tavli, Greek for "board", is the name for the Greek backgammon. It is a backgammon game that consists of three games, all played on a traditional backgammon board.

The three varieties of backgammon that are played in Tavli are Portes, Plakoto and Fevga. Portes is similar to the Western backgammon you are probably used to. Plakoto is a version of backgammon in which one checker can trap an opposing checker on the same point. Fevga is a backgammon game of Turkish origin in which one checker by itself may block a point. These three games are played in succession during a match of Tavli, usually up to three, five or seven points.

There are several main threads which run through each of the Tavli backgammon games. First of all, players roll the dice to see who will go first and the highest roll wins. These games are played very quickly. There is one pair of dice shared by the opponents and it is not uncommon for one opponent to pick up the dice and get ready to roll before the first player has finished making his move. The winner of the first round goes first in the second round. A player gets one point for bearing off all his checkers before his opponent and two points if he finished before his opponent has borne off any checkers. The doubling cube is also not used in this Greek version of backgammon.

If you love backgammon, grab a friend and try this Greek variation today!