How to play tavla (Turkish backgammon): rules and mars
Updated:
Tavla is backgammon as it is played in Turkey: two players, a board of 24 points and fifteen checkers each. The aim is to bring all your checkers home and bear them off before your opponent. This guide covers the rules of tavla on Boombala, how a mars counts and what the doubles are called.
Setup and direction
Each player counts the points 1 to 24 from their own home. At the start you have 2 checkers on your 24, 5 on your 13, 3 on your 8 and 5 on your 6. Checkers move from 24 towards 1, so the two players move in opposite directions. Your home board is points 1–6.
Throwing and moving
- In the first game each player throws one die; the higher throws both dice again and starts. A tie is thrown again.
- Each die moves one checker that many points. Play both dice with one checker or with two.
- A double (say 4-4) is played four times.
- Dice that can be played must be played: both if possible; if only one can be, the larger.
Closed points, hitting and entering
A point held by two or more of your opponent's checkers is closed: you can't land there. Land on a lone opposing checker and you hit it: it goes to the bar. A player with a checker on the bar must bring it back in through the opponent's home board before moving anything else; if the entry points are closed, the turn passes.
Bearing off
Once all fifteen of your checkers are home, you bear off: a die takes a checker off the point it shows. A die higher than your farthest checker may bear that one off. If a checker of yours is hit while bearing off, you can't bear off again until it is home.
Mars and the match
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Ordinary game (the loser bore off at least one) | 1 |
| Mars (the loser bore off none) | 2 |
Matches are played to 1, 3, 5 or 7 points. Each game is started by the winner of the one before. There is no doubling cube in Turkish tavla.
The doubles' names
| Dice | Turkish name |
|---|---|
| 1-1 | Hepyek |
| 2-2 | Dü dü |
| 3-3 | Düse |
| 4-4 | Dörtcihar |
| 5-5 | Dübeş |
| 6-6 | Düşeş |
A few tips
- Don't leave checkers alone: a lone checker can be hit by most of the rolls your opponent might throw.
- Make points in and just in front of your home: a row of them traps your opponent's checkers.
- Ahead in the race, avoid contact; behind, hold a point in your opponent's home and wait for a shot.