The Difference Between Backgammon and Tavla Online

admin · Site Admin Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 862

If you play backgammon online, you may have come across the word "tavla". Tavla is the Turkish name for backgammon and is one of the many versions of backgammon that is available for online play. The rules of tavla and backgammon vary slightly. Before you begin to play tavla online, you should be aware of the slight differences between these games.

The first difference is at the very start of the game. In backgammon, each player rolls one die to see who goes first. The winning player then uses this roll for his first turn. If you are playing tavla online, you will notice that in tavla that winner rolls again for his first turn.

The next difference comes when you are hitting opponent's blots in your own home board. In tavla, you are not allowed to "hit and run". This means, when you hit an opposing blot you may not move the checker that you used to attack. You must either cover the checker with another or leave the checker exposed. Additionally, when bearing off you may not waste pips. This means that if you have the opportunity to remove a checker, you must remove it - there is no moving checkers around to cover yourself. These rules make tavla online trickier than backgammon because there is more likelihood that you will have exposed checkers in your home board that could potentially be hit!

Finally, there is no doubling cube or three point backgammon in tavla. So play tavla online today and see how you like it!