Backgammon variants: the other games on the same board

Backgammon belongs to a large and very old family of games played on the same board, often called tables games: 24 points, two dice and, in most of them, 15 checkers per player. A variant keeps that equipment and changes one or more rules: where the checkers start, which way they move, what happens when you land on a lone opposing checker, how a game is scored, or whether the doubling cube is used.

Some variants are small tweaks to standard backgammon, played for fun or for practice. Others are traditional games with a long history of their own. In several countries the word for the board, tavla in Turkish or tavli in Greek, also names the games played on it, which is why the same name can mean different rules from one table to the next.

Four questions sort almost every variant: where the checkers start, what happens to a lone checker, how a game is scored and whether the cube is used. The table answers the first, second and last for the games in this guide.

Two big families stand out. In hitting games, like backgammon, a lone checker, a blot, can be hit and sent back to start again. In blocking games such as fevga, long nardy and jacquet, nothing is ever hit: both players go round in the same direction and a single checker is enough to hold a point, so the game is about building walls in front of your opponent.

Nackgammon is standard backgammon with a different starting position. Each player moves one checker from the 13-point and one from the 6-point to their 23-point, so you start with 2 checkers on your 24-point, 2 on your 23-point, 4 on the 13-point, 3 on the 8-point and 4 on the 6-point. Hitting, bearing off and the cube work exactly as in backgammon.

With four back checkers instead of two, escaping takes longer and both sides have more to do in each other's home board. Games tend to be longer, with more of the play spent in the middle game before the race: holding an anchor, building a prime and keeping your timing matter even more than usual.

The standard opening moves were worked out for the standard starting position, so don't assume they carry over unchanged: with checkers on both your 23- and 24-points, the best play for many rolls is different. With 6-5, for example, the Megammon Engine prefers making your 18-point, 24/18 23/18, to the standard run 24/13.

Hypergammon strips the game down to three checkers per player, one on each of the 24-, 23- and 22-points. The rules are those of backgammon, cube included. Each player starts with a pip count of 24 + 23 + 22 = 69, so a game takes only a few minutes.

With so few checkers on the board, the game is small enough to have been solved by computer: the best play is known for every position. It's a quick way to practice race and contact decisions without the long middle game.

In acey-deucey, all 15 checkers start off the board. You bring them in through your opponent's home board, the way a hit checker comes in from the bar, and you can move the checkers already in play while others are still waiting to enter.

The game is named after its special roll, 1-2, the ace-deuce. In the version most played in the United States, after playing the 1 and the 2 you choose any double you like, play it, then roll again. The smallest roll on the dice becomes the best one, and luck has a bigger say than in backgammon.

Acey-deucey is usually played without the cube, and its rules, scoring included, vary from place to place: agree on them before the first roll.

Tavla is the Turkish name for backgammon. It uses the same board and the same starting position, and checkers are hit and sent to the bar as in backgammon. A few rules differ:

• No doubling cube. The value of a game never changes while it's played.
• No triple game. A gammon, called mars, is worth 2 points, and there is no extra value for a backgammon.
• The opening roll is rolled again. The winner of the opening roll rolls both dice for their first move, so the first move can be a double.
• No hit-and-run in your home board. If you hit there, the hitting checker can't move on in the same turn: cover it or leave it where it is.
• No wasted pips in the bear-off. When a die can bear a checker off, you bear it off rather than moving checkers inside your home board.

Matches are often played to 5 points. As with every traditional game, details vary a little from one table to the next, so check the house rules before you start.

In Greece, tavli is both the board and the games played on it. A tavli match usually rotates through three games, portes, plakoto and fevga, and is played to 3, 5 or 7 points. There is no cube and no triple game: a game is worth 1 point, or 2 if the loser hasn't borne off a single checker.

Portes

Portes is the closest to backgammon, and very close to Turkish tavla: same setup, same hitting and the same bar. The winner of the opening roll rolls again for the first move, there's no cube, and a gammon is the most a game can be worth.

Plakoto

In plakoto, each player starts with all 15 checkers on their 24-point, and the two sides move in opposite directions, as in backgammon. Nobody is hit: landing on a lone opposing checker pins it. The pinned checker stays on the board but can't move until your checker leaves, and the point belongs to you meanwhile. Pinning your opponent's last checker on their starting point, often called the mother, usually wins the game at once, for 2 points.

Fevga

In fevga, both players move in the same direction, starting with all 15 checkers on corner points diagonally opposite each other. There's no hitting and no pinning: a single checker is enough to block a point. Your first checker has to pass your opponent's starting point before any other may leave yours, and building a full wall of six points is restricted. It's a game of blocks and timing.

Nardy, or narde, is the name used in Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia for games played on this board. Short nardy is simply backgammon. Long nardy is a different game, close to fevga: each player starts with all 15 checkers on one point, called the head, both sides move in the same direction, and a single checker blocks a point. There's no hitting, no bar and no cube.

Usually only one checker may leave the head per turn, with exceptions for some doubles on the first roll. Since nothing is ever hit, the game turns on blocking: making points in front of your opponent's checkers so that their rolls don't play, while keeping your own path open.

France has its own tradition on this board. Trictrac was the classic French game of the 17th and 18th centuries. Despite the familiar board, it isn't really a race: players score points during the game for particular positions and moves, and the rules are elaborate. In French, the word is still sometimes used for backgammon itself.

Jacquet took over in the 19th century and was long played in French families. It's a blocking race: all 15 checkers start on one point, both players go round in the same direction, there's no hitting, and your first checker has to reach the last quarter of the board before the others may leave the starting point.

Trictrac had faded by the end of the 19th century, and jacquet gave way to backgammon during the 20th, but jacquet rules and boards are still easy to find.

Some differences aren't separate games but options added to standard backgammon. In money play you may meet automatic doubles, the Jacoby rule and the beaver; in match play, the Crawford rule. The rules guide explains each one in the doubling cube and match play.

A chouette lets three or more people share one game of backgammon: one player, the box, plays alone against a team, and the roles rotate from game to game.

Start with standard backgammon. It's the version played in clubs and tournaments around the world, the one with the cube and match play, and the one every variant is described against. Then pick by what you're after:

• You already play backgammon. Nackgammon and hypergammon are the easiest next steps: the same rules, a different start.
• You want a lighter game. Acey-deucey, with its 1-2 roll, gives the dice a bigger say.
• You play with friends from Greece, Türkiye or the Caucasus. Learn their game: tavli, tavla or nardy, and agree on the house rules before the first roll.
• You're curious about blocking games. Fevga, long nardy and jacquet teach a different skill: winning without ever hitting.

A lot of what you learn carries over. Counting the race with the pip count, building points and judging when to run or to hold are useful in most of these games. Cube skills, such as when to double, only apply where the cube is used.

Megammon is built for standard backgammon: the starting position, rules and doubling cube described in our rules guide. Ranked matches are played to 1, 3, 5 or 7 points, with the cube from 3 points up.

To build the skills that carry over to every board game in this family, read our backgammon strategy guide.