Tavla Masters
Tavla Masters is backgammon the way it is played in coffee houses from Istanbul to Izmir: fifteen checkers each, two dice and a hand-carved wooden board. Race your checkers around the twenty-four points into your home board and bear them off before your rival does. Hit lone blots to send them back to the bar, build points and primes to block the way, and decide when to play safe and when to take a risk.
Every rule of standard backgammon is here: entering from the bar, hitting, bearing off, doubles that move four times, and the rule that you must use both dice when you can (or the larger one when only one can be played). Wins count as a single game, a gammon or a backgammon, and the optional doubling cube raises the stakes in match play to 3, 5 or 7 points, with the Crawford rule. Tap a checker to see where it can go, drag it, undo within your turn and turn on hints while you learn.
Play the computer on Easy, Normal or Hard (Hard looks ahead at all 21 rolls your rival could answer with), pass one device back and forth with a friend, or go online: quick match a random opponent or create a private room and share its four-letter code. Online matches are to 5 points with 60 seconds per turn, and leaving counts as a loss. Your settings, stats and an unfinished game against the computer are saved automatically.
How to play
- Each turn roll two dice and move your checkers that many points toward your home board; each die is a separate move, doubles move four times.
- You may land on any point not held by two or more enemy checkers. Landing on a single enemy checker (a blot) hits it and sends it to the bar.
- Checkers on the bar must enter the opponent's home board before anything else moves.
- Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board, bear them off. The first to bear off all checkers wins the game.
- A gammon (the loser bore off nothing) scores double and a backgammon triple. Offer the doubling cube before rolling to double the stakes.
Controls
| Mouse / touch | Tap a checker, then tap a highlighted point; or drag the checker there |
|---|---|
| Tap a selected checker | Move it with the larger die |
| Space / Enter | Roll the dice, or confirm your move |
| Backspace / U | Undo the last move this turn |
| D | Offer a double |
| Esc | Pause |
- Developer
- peakr.io
- Released
- Platforms
- Browser (desktop and mobile)
- Players
- Single player and online multiplayer