Tavla

How it works in play

Tavla is backgammon as it is played in Turkey’s cafés: the standard setup and moves, no doubling cube, and a series score in which a mars, the Turkish gammon, counts two points.

Related terms

• Tavli — Greek backgammon — the session triplet of Portes, Plakoto and Fevga.
• Nard / Narde — The Persian ancestor of backgammon — and the Russian-sphere name for the game family today.
• Gammon — Winning before the opponent bears off any checker. Worth 2× the cube value.
• Match — A multi-game contest played to N points (e.g. 7, 11, 13, 21).

Go deeper

• How to play Tavla
• Backgammon in Turkey
• Backgammon strategy, from first roll to bear-off

In other languages

• العربيةالتافلا (Tavla)
• ΕλληνικάΤάβλα (tavla)
• فارسیتاولا
• עבריתטאבלה (Tavla)
• РусскийТавла (tavla)
• TürkçeTavla