greek tavli

TAVLI IN GREECE

Tavli is the most spread game in Greece. Favorite game for generations and generations in Greece, tavli is played in a wooden frame with 30 counters in two different colors (15 counters of each color). The word tavli is used for the game but also for the frame that game is played. The players move the counters in specific places inside tavli, which is split in two parts, according to the dice. The purpose is, in every variation of the game, the player to manage to move all his counters in specific places and then to gather them out of the game. If he manages this before his opponent manages to gather at least one of his counters, the winning is double (double game). If the opponent manages to gather even one counter, then the winner takes only one point. The game usually finishes in 7 winning points.

The variations of the game tavli that are played in Greece are “plakoto”, “portes” (doors), “feyga” (go or moultetzim, which is the Turkish name) and “gioul”, which is played rarely. The “doors” are same as the Anglo-Saxonic backgammon (but without the rule of double that is rarely played in Greece).
There are also two tavli games for children that are played in a tavli frame, the one is called “plakoto” but is a game of skill and has nothing to do with the game that adults are playing. The other is called “Eurika” ( i found ) and is a game in order the children to understand the logic of the games of tavli and the way that counters are gathered.