Tavla – Turkish Variant of Backgammon

Tavla is the Turkish variant of backgammon. Tavla and backgammon rules are almost identical. Still, the minor differences between two versions of backgammon make Tavla worth learning.

The first and most noticed difference between standard backgammon and Tavla is the doubling cube. While in Western backgammon the doubling cube has an important role in creating tension and thickening the backgammon strategy, in Tavla the doubling cube is simply out of the game.

In addition to the absence of the doubling cube, Tavla misses the hit and run possibility in the player's home board; you can still hit your opponent's blot, but if you hit a blot in your home board, you cannot run for cover. Instead, you must either cover your checker using another checker or leave it uncovered.

"Backgammon" in the meaning of a triple game (in which the losing player pays the opponent 3 times the value of the doubling cube if he/she hasn't borne off their checkers nor re-entered their checkers from the bar) is also impossible in Tavla. In the Turkish variant of backgammon, the players get one point for winning a single game (a game that ends with the losing player has one or more checkers off the table), and two points for winning a gammon (a game ended before the losing player has started bearing off).

At the opening of the Tavla game, the player who'd rolled the higher die is allowed to repeat his roll before making his first movement of checkers on the Tavla board. (In backgammon, as you may recall, the winner of the opening roll moves his checkers the number of points indicated by both players roll of dice).

At the end of the Tavla game, during the bearoff stage, the Tavla players, as opposed to the backgammon players, are not allowed to waste pips. Therefore, when you play Tavla, you must bear off a checker whenever it is possible (instead of playing a smaller number of pips to move your checkers forward as in the backgammon game).