Tavla, Tavli, Portes, Plakoto and Fevga explained

01One board, many games: what Tavla and Tavli mean

Tavla is the Turkish word for the board and the game, and Tavli (Τάβλι) is the Greek one. Both mean the same thing as backgammon: a game for two with fifteen checkers each, two dice and a board of twenty-four points. What changes from one cafe to the next is which version you play. In Greece the set of three, called Portes, Plakoto and Fevga, is played in order as a short series, and in Turkey the everyday game is Tavla, played with the Portes rules, with Mahbusa and other versions in some regions.

Every one of these games shares the same equipment and the same basic idea: roll two dice, move two checkers or one checker twice, and bring everything home. The differences are in how the starting position looks, whether you can hit or pin, and whether the two sides run in opposite directions or on the same track.

All of them are available in Backgammon & Tavla, where you can pick the version before you start, with the rules explained inside the game. If you want the international game with the doubling cube first, see our backgammon strategy and cube guide.

02Portes: Greek backgammon without the cube

Portes (Πόρτες) is the standard game. The set-up is the usual one: two checkers on your 24 point, five on your 13 point, three on your 8 point and five on your 6 point. You move toward your home board in the last six points, hit lone checkers, which go to the bar, and bear off when all your checkers are home.

There is no doubling cube. A game is worth 1 point, a gammon (called mars) 2 points and a backgammon 3 points, which is also how Tavla is normally scored in Turkey. A series or match is played to a number of points. The lack of a cube makes the game calmer, and more of the skill lies in making points, avoiding blots and counting the race.

If you can play Portes, you can play international backgammon: the only addition is the cube. The strategy for opening moves, points and primes in our other guide applies unchanged.

03Plakoto: the pin game

In Plakoto (Πλακωτό) all fifteen of each side's checkers start stacked on the rival's ace point, which is your 24 point. Both sides then run around the board to the home board in the last six points, in the same directions as in Portes. There is no bar and nothing is ever hit.

Instead, when you land on a point that holds exactly one enemy checker, you pin it. It stays under your checker and cannot move until you have moved all your own checkers off that point. A point with two or more enemy checkers is closed, as in backgammon. The key skill is to pin early checkers, especially in your own home board, so that your rival's whole army is held behind a stuck checker, while avoiding leaving your own lone checkers where they can be pinned.

You win by bearing off first, with a mars (2 points) if the rival has borne off nothing. In rare positions both sides have pinned each other and no checker can ever move. This game then gives the win to the side with fewer pips left.

04Fevga: the race game

Fevga (Φεύγα, meaning to leave) is a race on a shared track. All fifteen checkers of each side start on one corner of the board, and both sides run counter-clockwise, so you and your rival travel the same road and meet in the middle. There is no hitting. A point is simply closed while an enemy checker stands on it, so the game is about blocking.

Two rules keep the early game from being just a sprint. Your second checker may not leave the starting point until the first has reached the third quarter of the track. And you may never build a wall of six points in a row unless an enemy checker has already passed it, so a complete prime is not allowed against a rival who is still behind it.

The aim is to block the rival's front runners with a run of points, while keeping your own checkers moving. The rule about the first checker makes the first few turns delicate: running it too early leaves it alone, and delaying it freezes the rest of your army.

05Narde (Long Nardy) and how it differs from Fevga

Narde, also called Long Nardy, is the Eastern relative of Fevga, played from Turkey and the Caucasus to Russia and Central Asia. It uses the same shared counter-clockwise track, the same rule of no hitting and the same ban on a six-point wall, but a different rule for leaving the start.

In Narde only one checker may leave the head, the starting point, each turn. The exception is the first turn of the game, where a double 3, 4 or 6 lets you take two. This keeps the army together and makes the order of moves very important. As in Fevga, you win by bearing off first, and a mars scores 2.

Rules of Narde vary from region to region, so if you grew up with a local version, check the start rule and the six-point rule in the in-game guide before playing.

06Which version should you start with?

If you are new, start with Portes or backgammon against the Easy computer, because hitting and the bar are the heart of most of the strategy talked about online. Add the cube when you are comfortable counting pips.

If you love block-and-run games, try Fevga and Narde. They are closer to Ludo or Satti in feel: the dice are strong but the blocks decide. If you like traps, Plakoto is the most tactical, because one pinned checker can change the whole game.

On a phone, the board turns upright and you can drag or tap checkers. You can also flip or mirror the board to match the way you are used to seeing it in a cafe or at home. See our Ludo rules guide or the Satti guide for other dice and race games on PlayNest.

07Strategy tips for each version

In Portes, build points before anything else, keep your back checkers connected on an anchor if the race is behind, and count pips every few turns. A blot is only worth leaving when few rolls can hit it or when the hit would cost the rival more than it costs you.

In Plakoto, think about timing. Pinning a checker early on a point deep in your home board is worth a lot because it is far from freedom, but it also commits your own checkers to stay there. Keep spare moves in hand so you are never forced to release a pin, and avoid leaving one lone checker behind your rival's army.

In Fevga and Narde, plan the track as a whole. Points that sit directly in front of the rival's runners block them most, while points behind them do nothing. Keep two or three points in a row and move the rear checkers up behind them, remembering that a full six-point wall is not allowed until a rival checker has passed it. Do not rush the first checker, but do not leave it so late that the start point stays frozen.

08A short series like in the cafe

In Greek cafes it is common to play one game of each of Portes, Plakoto and Fevga as a set of three, and the player who wins two takes the series. To copy that here, play one game of each version in order using the single-game match length, and keep a tally. The game saves your record by version and difficulty, so you can see where you do best.