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Turkish backgammon: roll, bring your checkers home and bear them off first.
About this game
Turkish backgammon: roll, bring your checkers home and bear them off first.
In Tavla you roll the dice to bring your fifteen checkers from the far corner of the board into your home board and bear them all off before your opponent; a lone checker can be hit and sent to the bar, and two checkers make a closed point. It follows the Turkish rules: a double is played four times, you must play as many dice as you can and the larger die when only one fits, and a game won before your opponent bore off any checker is a gammon (mars) worth two points. You play matches to five points at four tables, from the Corner Coffeehouse to the Master's Table, each opened by the games you win at the one before. In the Daily Game the dice and the opponent are the same for everyone that day.
Leaderboard
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How to play
- After the roll the checkers you can move glow: tap one, then a glowing point; one checker may also play both dice.
- A checker moves to an empty point, a point of your own or a point with one opposing checker, which it hits; a point with two or more is closed.
- A hit checker must first enter in your opponent's home board; with all fifteen in your home board you bear off from the point a die shows.
- Bear off all first to win the game: one point, two for a gammon when your opponent bore off nothing; the first to five points wins the match.
Controls
- Tap a checker, then where it goes or the bear-off tray
- Drag and drop a checker; a double tap plays it with the larger die
- Undo takes back your last step before the turn is over
- Keyboard: arrows pick, Enter plays, 1 and 2 pick a die, U undoes, Space rolls
- Esc or P: pause
Tips
- Do not leave a lone checker where your opponent can hit it; if you must, leave it far away or where few rolls hit.
- Make points in your home board and on your 7 point: six in a row lock an opposing checker in completely.
- Watch the pip count: when you lead the race, run home without risking your checkers.
Questions and answers
Which games count for the challenge?
Every game you win against the computer: a match has several games, and a gammon is one win. The Daily Game counts once a day; playing it again the same day is practice.
Are the dice fair?
Yes. The dice are made the same way for both sides, every face with the same chance, and the computer cannot see the coming rolls. In the Daily Game the rolls come in the same order for everyone that day.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. Tavla is played in landscape: turn your phone sideways and tap checkers and points with your thumb. Held upright, the game waits; in the settings you pick the direction, the board and the checker colours.