Opening roll
Each player rolls one die. Ties are rerolled by both players. The higher roll starts, using both opening dice.
TAVLIPLAY · ONLINE BACKGAMMON
How to play Portes backgammon.
Portes is Greek backgammon: the familiar 24-point board, 15 checkers and two dice. Play with friends, find an online opponent, or practise at your own pace.
Legal moves
Each die is a separate move. Use both when possible, or the higher die if only one can be played. Doubles provide four moves. Two opposing checkers block a point.
Hitting and bar entry
Landing on a lone opposing checker sends it to the bar. Re-enter all your checkers from the bar before moving any other checker.
Bearing off and winning
Bring all your checkers into your home board before bearing off. The first player to bear off all 15 wins.
Completing a turn
Your moves are drafts until you confirm the turn, and can be undone beforehand. Your opponent sees confirmed moves one by one and can review the move history.
TavliPlay’s ruleset
We use the backgammon opening roll described above, without a doubling cube or gammon/backgammon scoring multipliers. Each game records one win or loss. Traditional Portes and tournament backgammon differ in scoring and opening conventions.
What can I play?
Portes supports online friend games, ranked random opponents and local bot practice. Plakoto and Fevga are not playable yet.