Greek Tavli rules? FAQ or URL wanted

[Jens Larsen]

I have just been to Crete, Greece.
In a cafe I saw some play BG, but the next game they played some other
game on the board. When I asked they explained that the game was
called Tavli and was actually three games. Each one played after
another.

- Where can I find the rules for the two other (not BG) games on the
net?

- Does "Tavli" simply means "Board" (ie. the thing, not the game)?

The only resource I found was:
http://www.bm.lu.se/~llv95mpn/PRIVAT/BACKGAMMON.html
...Snip...
The games I know except
"Portes" are "Fevga",
"Plakoto" and "Assi". I
think those games are only
played in Greece.
...Endsnip...

- Is this correct?

pls, add my e-mail to your reply, it's:
lar...@lysator.liu.se

thanks,
Jens Larsen, Sweden

[Alexandros A. Chatzipetros]

Dear Jens,

'Tavli' is the Greek word for 'backgammon', as well as for 'board'. Yes,
it's true that in Greece we play 3 different games using the ordinary BG
board. These games are:

1. 'Portes' (regular BG with some minor difference).
2. 'Plakoto' (a variation where when a piece is hit, it cannot be moved
unless the piece that hit it moves too), and
3. 'Fevga' (a variation where the purpose is to block as many free
spaces as possible - even one piece can block a space).

Those three games are played in that order one after the other, and the
match usually lasts for 7 pts. I was thinking for some time now to post
the rules for these games, but I didn't have any free time left to write
them. Keep looking in this newsgroup, eventually I will post the rules.

Alexandros A. Chatzipetros
(FIBS login: alexandros)