Tavli (Greek: Τάβλι), sometimes called Greek backgammon in English, is the most popular way of playing tables games in Greece and Cyprus and is their national board game. Tavli is a compendium game for two players which comprises three different variants played in succession: Portes, Plakoto and Fevga. These are played in a cycle until one player reaches the target score - usually five or seven points.

Description

Tables games are an ancient family of race games, the best known modern example of which is backgammon. However, in Greece the most popular form of tables is Tavli, a word which is the equivalent of "tables games". Hence, this is not a single game, but a trio of tables games played to different rules and tactics. These are Portes, Plakoto and Fevga and they are played in that order until a player reaches the agreed target score. The aim in each game is to be the first player to bear off all 15 men or pieces.

Portes

Portes is the game that resembles backgammon most closely. It is a hitting game in which the players may hit enemy blots off the board. The starting layout and rules are as for backgammon except that:

Plakoto

Plakoto is the second game in the sequence. It is a pinning game in which hitting is not permitted. Key features include:

Fevga

Fevga is the third game in the series. It is a running game in which neither hitting nor pinning are permitted. Thus single man 'makes the point'. It is a game of parallel movement, both players moving in an anticlockwise direction. Other key features:

Literature