How to play Fevga.
Fevga is the third game of tavli and the least like backgammon. Both sides run the same way round the board, nobody is ever hit, and a single checker is enough to hold a point against the whole of the other army.
Fevga at a glance
- Checkers
- 15 a side
- Start, from your side
- 15 on the 24-point, in the corner diagonally opposite your opponent's
- Direction
- Same: both sides run the same way round, you from 24 down to 1
- Doubling cube
- No
- Hitting or pinning
- Neither. A single checker blocks the point
- Scoring
- 1 point, or 2 if the loser has borne off nothing
One checker blocks and both run one way.
There is no bar in Fevga and no hitting. You simply can't land on a point with any opposing checker on it. Since you both travel the same way round, each of you soon walks into the other's checkers, and the game is a fight over who gets blocked.
You also can't start your army until your first checker has gone past your opponent's start. Until then that runner is all you can move, so a blocked runner can cost you whole rolls.
Fevga rules, in order of play
Set up. All fifteen of yours on the corner point, and all fifteen of your opponent's in the diagonally opposite corner. Both of you go counter-clockwise on the same track, so you meet halfway.
Decide who starts. Each side rolls one die and the higher number starts, a tie rolling again. That player rolls both dice for the first turn. In a match, the last winner starts the next game.
Send your first checker. Until a checker of yours has passed your opponent's start, you may move only that runner, or a start checker if you have no runner yet.
Move. Each die is its own move, onto any point with no opposing checker on it. Doubles play four times. Play both numbers if you can, and the higher one if only one will play.
Mind the two prime limits. You may not hold all six points of your own starting table. And if your opponent's whole remaining army stands on the point right behind a six-point prime of yours, you must open the prime if any play does.
Bear off. Once all fifteen are in your last table you bear them off. The first side with none left wins, 1 point, or 2 if the loser has borne off nothing.
The prime limits vary. We follow the bkgm.com wording. The stricter Narde form, with no six-point prime unless a checker of yours is ahead of it, is not what the app plays. English Wikipedia's Tavli page just says a player may not completely block the opponent, and these rules aren't enforced the same way in every part of Greece, so agree on them at a real table.
Fevga strategy
A few tips, not rules. They come from the one-checker block and the shared track.
- Get your first checker past your opponent's start quickly. Until it is, your whole army is waiting on one piece.
- Spread out. Each single checker is a whole blocked point, so a row of them in your opponent's way does what two made points do in backgammon.
- Look at what your opponent's big numbers need. Blocking the point six away from their stack stops more than blocking one nearby.
- Don't let your own stack get cut off. A wall in front of your own start is the usual way to lose whole turns.
Where Fevga comes from
Fevga is the third game of tavli, after Portes and Plakoto. bkgm.com places it close to the Turkish game Moultezim and the Russian game Narde, and English Wikipedia also gives it the names Tawla 31 and Maghribiyya. The sources we could check do not date Fevga itself.
Fevga questions
Is Fevga a tavli game?
Yes. Tavli is the set of Portes, Plakoto and Fevga, usually played in that order in a match.
Can you hit in Fevga?
No. There is no hitting and no bar. One checker on a point is enough to keep your opponent off it.
Why can't I move my other checkers in Fevga?
Your first checker has to pass your opponent's start before the rest of your army may leave. Until then only that runner moves.
Is Fevga the same as Narde?
They are close relatives, with the same running game. Their rules on primes differ, and the app follows the Fevga wording on bkgm.com.
Can I play Fevga online for free?
Yes. Play Fevga now starts a game against a bot at once, with no signup. You can also play a bot or with a friend from the door and set the match length there.
Is Fevga rated here?
No. It is unrated and played without a stake, with no analysis afterwards, because GNU Backgammon can't read this game. It isn't in the rated queue, at tables or in tournaments.