tables game
Tables games are a class of board game that includes backgammon and which are played on a tables board, typically with two rows of 12 vertical markings called points. Players roll dice to determine the movement of pieces. Tables games are among ...
for two players. It is usually played as one of three different games in succession – the others being Portes and
Plakoto
Plakoto (Πλακωτό) is a tables game for two players that is popular in Greece. The object is for the player to bring all 15 pieces around to his or her own home board and then bear them off. The player who bears off all 15 pieces first ...
– in social gatherings or coffee shops. When played in this way, it is known as
Tavli
Tavli (Greek: Τάβλι), sometimes called Greek Backgammon in English, is the most popular way of playing tables games (or 'backgammon games') in Greece and Cyprus and is their national board game.Narde and Egyptian and Lebanese Tawla 31.Mamoun (2018), p. 1
parallel movement
The following is a glossary of terms used in tables games, essentially games played on a Backgammon-type board. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to a single game like Backgammon or Acey-deucey), but applicable to ...
in which both players start in opposite corners of the board but then move in the same direction – anticlockwise – around it. Each player places all 15 pieces on the
point
Point or points may refer to:
Places
* Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States
* Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
* Point ...
in the far right corner of the board. the aim is to be first to
bear off
The following is a glossary of terms used in tables games, essentially games played on a Backgammon-type board. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to a single game like Backgammon or Acey-deucey), but applicable to ...
all one's pieces after first having gathered them in the
home table
The following is a glossary of terms used in tables games, essentially games played on a Backgammon-type board. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to a single game like Backgammon or Acey-deucey), but applicable to ...
.Mamoun (2018), pp. 2–5
Rules
The following rules are based on Mamoun (2018):
Starting
Players roll one die each and the player with the higher number plays first, opening the game by rolling both dice. Players then play alternately and the winner of a game leads to the next.
Play
The player must play both numbers of the die roll separately if able. However, players may only move a piece onto an
open point
The following is a glossary of terms used in tables games, essentially games played on a Backgammon-type board. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to a single game like Backgammon or Acey-deucey), but applicable to ...
i.e. an empty point or one they already occupy. They may not move to a point occupied by an enemy man. In effect, one or more pieces on a point act as a
block
Block or blocked may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting
* W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...
to the opponent. A player may use both dice throws to move one piece, but only if the intermediate point is open. A player who can only use one die, must use the higher number. Doublets are played twice i.e. as four separate die rolls.
To begin with each player must advance one man past the opposing start point before moving a second piece.
A player may form a
prime
A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...
anywhere except in the first quadrant or the opponent's first quadrant. One player A has assembled all 15 men on the point behind the prime, player B must unblock a point to enable A to advance. These prime rules are not enforced in all Greek regions.Papahristou (2018), p. 32.
A player must not completely block the opponent. In the rare situation where a player is unable to make a legal move to unblock the opponent, the opponent misses a turn and the player continues.
Bearing off
Bearing off may begin once all 15 men have reached the home table. A man may be borne off if a die roll corresponds to its distance from the edge of the board; failing that, a higher numbered piece may be removed; and failing that as well, the highest numbered piece is borne off.
Scoring
The first to bear all 15 pieces off the board wins and scores 1 point. If this is achieved before the loser has borne off any, the game is doubled.
Backgammon comparison
Fevga differs markedly from Backgammon. The key differences are that:
* The starting layout is quite different - all pieces are piled on the starting point
* Both players move in the same direction
* There is no hitting
* A point is blocked by only one man
* Primes are more limited
* There is no doubling cube
* There is no equivalent of a ''backgammon'' bonus and associated triple win
Moultezim
Parlett (1999) records that Moultezim is a form of the French game Jacquet still played in Turkey. Together with Fevga these three are not only
games of parallel movement
The following is a glossary of terms used in tables games, essentially games played on a Backgammon-type board. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to a single game like Backgammon or Acey-deucey), but applicable to a ...
, but share the distinctive 'postilion' feature of Jacquet whereby the first piece must move around the board and pass a certain position before the remaining pieces may move. In Jacquet this is the first point of the home quadrant; in Fevga and Moultezim it is the opponent's starting point. The games also have the same feature that a single man may block a point to the opponent.Parlett (1999), p. 78.
There are minor differences in Moultezim compared with Fevga. In Moultezim, players begin each game by rolling for first play and there is no limitation on primes.
Parlett, David
David Parlett (born 18 May 1939 in London) is a games scholar, historian, and translator from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. He is the president of the British Skat Association.
His published works include many po ...
(1999). ''The Oxford History of Board Games''. Oxford: OUP.
* Tzannes, Nicolaos and Basil Tzannes (1977). ''Backgammon Games and Strategies''.