How to play Plakoto.
Plakoto is the second game of tavli, the Greek backgammon set. Nothing is ever hit. Land on a lone checker and it is pinned under you, stuck where it stands for as long as you stay.
Plakoto at a glance
- Checkers
- 15 a side
- Start, from your side
- 15 on the 24-point, all on your opponent's 1-point
- Direction
- Opposite: you go from 24 down to 1, your opponent from 1 up to 24
- Doubling cube
- No
- Hitting or pinning
- No hitting. A checker landing on a lone checker pins it
- Scoring
- 1 point, or 2 if the loser has borne off nothing, or if the mother is pinned
Land on a lone blot and it is pinned.
The pinned checker doesn't go anywhere. It stays under yours and can't move, and your opponent can't land on that point either, so one of your checkers now blocks like two.
It stays pinned until the last of your checkers leaves the point. Meanwhile it still counts. If it's outside your opponent's home board, they can't bear off at all. So a pin deep in your own home board late in the game can win it by itself.
Plakoto rules, in order of play
Set up. All fifteen of your checkers go on your opponent's 1-point, which is your 24. Theirs start on your 1-point. You bring yours round to your home board and bear them off.
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.
Move. Each die is its own move, to any point not held by two or more opposing checkers. A point with a lone pinner is closed too. Doubles play four times. Play both numbers if you can, and the higher one if only one will play.
Pin. Land on a lone opposing checker and it stays under yours. It can't move until the last of your checkers has left, and more of yours may join it.
Watch the mother. The last checker on your start point is your mother. If it gets pinned and your opponent has no free checker left on their own start point, you lose the game for 2 points.
Bear off. Once all fifteen are in your home board you bear them off. A pinned checker of yours counts where it stands, so it can hold you up. The first side with none left wins, 1 point, or 2 if the loser has borne off nothing.
The mother rule, as we read it. bkgm.com says the game ends when the mother is pinned, unless the pinner still has checkers on their own start, since their mother is still at risk, and that two pinned mothers are a tie. Three details are our reading. We check at the end of the turn, so a pin released in the same turn never counted. If you clear your start while the other mother is still pinned, you win then. And a tie is a voided game: it scores nothing and the next game opens with a roll.
Plakoto strategy
A few tips, not rules. They follow from how pins and the mother work.
- Don't leave your start early with only a checker or two behind. Your mother is the checker the whole game turns on, so watch how your opponent's runners approach.
- Move checkers off your start in twos when the dice allow. A lone checker in your opponent's path is an invitation.
- Pin late in your own home board if you can. A checker stuck there can't get home, so your opponent can't bear off, and you can bear down around it.
- A pin isn't free. While you hold one, that checker isn't moving, and when you finally have to leave you let your opponent go.
Where Plakoto comes from
Plakoto is one of the three games of tavli, played with Portes and Fevga, usually one after the other in a match of three, five or seven points. It's also played in Bulgaria, where it is called Tapa. English Wikipedia calls it very similar to Mahbusa, and Arman Ratip's book How to Play Backgammon, listed on bkgm.com, calls it Press backgammon. Neither page dates the game.
Plakoto questions
Is Plakoto the same as tavli?
Tavli is the set of three Greek games: Portes, Plakoto and Fevga. Plakoto is the one with pins.
What is the mother checker in Plakoto?
The last checker on your start point. If it gets pinned while your opponent has no free checker on their own start, you lose 2 points. If both mothers are pinned, the game is void.
Can a pinned checker in Plakoto move?
No. It waits until the last checker on top of it has left, and neither side can land on that point in the meantime except the pinner.
What is the best strategy in Plakoto?
Protect your mother and pin late, deep in your own home board. The tips above say why.
Can I play Plakoto online for free?
Yes. Play Plakoto 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 Plakoto 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.