Genres | Board game, race game, tables game, dice game |
---|---|
Players | 2 |
Movement | Portes and Plakoto: contrary; Fevga: parallel |
Chance | Medium ( dice rolling) |
Skills | Strategy, tactics, counting, probability |
Compendium game of the tables family |
Tavli (Greek: Τάβλι), sometimes called Greek backgammon in English, [1] is the most popular way of playing tables games in Greece and Cyprus and is their national board game. [2] [3] 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. [4]
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. [4]
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. [5] The starting layout and rules are as for backgammon except that: [6]
Plakoto is the second game in the sequence. It is a pinning game in which hitting is not permitted. [5] Key features include: [7]
Fevga is the third game in the series. It is a running game in which neither hitting nor pinning are permitted. [5] Thus single man 'makes the point'. [5] It is a game of parallel movement, both players moving in an anticlockwise direction. [8]
Other key features: [9]
Genres | Board game, race game, tables game, dice game |
---|---|
Players | 2 |
Movement | Portes and Plakoto: contrary; Fevga: parallel |
Chance | Medium ( dice rolling) |
Skills | Strategy, tactics, counting, probability |
Compendium game of the tables family |
Tavli (Greek: Τάβλι), sometimes called Greek backgammon in English, [1] is the most popular way of playing tables games in Greece and Cyprus and is their national board game. [2] [3] 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. [4]
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. [4]
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. [5] The starting layout and rules are as for backgammon except that: [6]
Plakoto is the second game in the sequence. It is a pinning game in which hitting is not permitted. [5] Key features include: [7]
Fevga is the third game in the series. It is a running game in which neither hitting nor pinning are permitted. [5] Thus single man 'makes the point'. [5] It is a game of parallel movement, both players moving in an anticlockwise direction. [8]
Other key features: [9]