At a glance
| Heartland | Greece, Turkey, the Balkans — the third game of a tavli session |
|---|---|
| Players | 2, with 15 checkers each |
| Doubling cube | Not used |
| Hitting | None — a single checker blocks its point |
| Starting position | All 15 on diagonally-opposite corners; both players race the same direction |
| Winning | Bear off all 15 first; winning before the opponent bears off any checker scores double |
How Fevga plays
Both players start with fifteen checkers stacked on diagonally-opposite corners and travel the same direction around the board — you chase the opponent's tail rather than crashing through their ranks. Dice, doubles, and the bear-off follow standard rules. The differences:
- No hitting. There are no blots in the standard sense: a lone checker cannot be captured, and it denies the point to the opponent all by itself.
- The head-pass rule. Your first checker must travel past the opponent's starting corner before any second checker may move. Until it gets there, your whole army waits.
- Fair-play blocking limits. You may not make all six points of your own starting table, and you may not maintain a six-point wall directly in front of an opponent stack that still contains all fifteen of their checkers — total imprisonment from move one is against the rules.
Strategy in brief
- Every checker is a wall. Spreading single checkers across consecutive points builds cheap primes that would cost two checkers apiece in standard backgammon.
- Race the head-pass. Winning the early tempo battle — getting your runner past their corner first — often decides who gets to build fences and who has to climb them.
- Watch the wrap. Because both sides move the same way, blockades hurt most where the opponent's stack must funnel through a narrow stretch of board.
Fevga is the closing act of the Greek tavli triplet and a close cousin of Russian Long Nardy — the same no-contact racing idea, with different starting corners and etiquette.
How Fevga differs from standard backgammon
| Aspect | Standard backgammon | Fevga |
|---|---|---|
| Direction | Players move in opposite directions and collide head-on | Both players race the same cyclic direction around the board |
| Blots | A lone checker can be hit | A lone checker is safe — and blocks the point outright |
| Making a point | Requires two checkers | One checker is enough |
| The bar | Hit checkers re-enter from the bar | No hitting, no bar |
| Opening restriction | None | Your first checker must pass the opponent’s starting corner before any other checker may move |
| Blocking limits | A six-prime anywhere is fair play | You may not close all six points of your own starting table, nor hold a six-prime directly in front of the opponent’s full stack |
New to the game? Start with the standard backgammon rules, browse the other variants, or look up any term in the glossary.