Tabula

How it works in play

Tabula, Latin for ‘board’, was played across the Roman world on 24 points with fifteen checkers a side and, at first, three dice. It is essentially the skeleton of modern backgammon.

Related terms

• Nard / Narde — The Persian ancestor of backgammon — and the Russian-sphere name for the game family today.
• Tavla — The Turkish name and tradition of backgammon, played without the doubling cube.
• Tavli — Greek backgammon — the session triplet of Portes, Plakoto and Fevga.

Go deeper

• History: the ancient games
• The history of backgammon
• Backgammon strategy, from first roll to bear-off

In other languages

• العربيةتابولا (Tabula)
• ΕλληνικάΤάμπουλα (tabula)
• فارسیتابولا
• עבריתטאבולה (Tabula)
• РусскийТабула (tabula)
• TürkçeTabula