A board with two journeys
The sound at a tavla table is familiar: two dice strike wood, somebody studies an apparently safe checker, and a moment later that checker is sitting on the bar. The board looks like the one used for Long Nard, but the choices are different. Tavla is short backgammon. Each player moves toward home on a route opposite to the other player's route, and a single unprotected checker can be captured. That one change makes an open point a possible invitation rather than just a place to land.
This guide explains the Tavla Classic and Tavla Modern games described for Nard Online. Their checker movement, hitting, re-entry and bearing-off rules are the same. The difference is the doubling cube: absent in Classic, available in Modern. The advice here does not silently add regional rules to the app. At a physical table you may hear a different scoring convention or opening procedure; confirm those before play instead of assuming that every cafe uses the identical agreement.
If you know only Long Nard, begin by forgetting its head. There is no stack of fifteen checkers waiting on one starting point in Tavla, no one-checker-per-turn head limit, and no rule that a single enemy checker closes a point. These are separate games, not two ways of arranging the same race. For that comparison, keep Long Nard rules nearby while learning the wider family of variants.
The twenty-four points and the bar
Every backgammon board contains twenty-four narrow triangular points, six in each quadrant. The raised strip between the two board halves is the bar. In Tavla the bar has a job: captured checkers wait there until their owner rolls an available entry. Your own home board is six points, numbered 6 through 1 from your perspective; point 1 is closest to bearing off. The opposite player's home is at the far end of your route.
To make every example reproducible, numbers in this guide are always from the moving player's own perspective. Your checkers start moving from higher point numbers toward lower ones: 24, 23, and so on, eventually 6 to 1, then off. Your opponent's numbers run the other way across the same physical triangles. Thus your 24-point is their 1-point. The players are travelling in opposite physical directions, not around the board together as in Long Nard.
A written move 13/8 means a checker travels five pips from your 13-point to your 8-point. bar/22 means a checker enters on your 22-point using a 3. 6/off means a checker leaves from your 6-point using a six during the bear-off stage. Point labels are not a claim that the app displays those numbers on every screen; they are a reliable teaching convention, useful when explaining a disputed move without pointing vaguely at the left side of the board.
Setting up fifteen checkers
Each player owns fifteen checkers. In the familiar short-backgammon arrangement you place two on your 24-point, five on your 13-point, three on your 8-point and five on your 6-point. Your opponent mirrors the arrangement from their own perspective. The board therefore contains busy clusters from the beginning, with open lanes between them. This is not the fifteen-on-the-head setup used in Long Nard, and swapping the arrangements mid-game produces an entirely different contest.
Set the board up from one player's point numbering, then stand on the other side and check the perspective. Both should see two on 24, five on 13, three on 8 and five on 6 relative to their own home. People often place the five at the right-looking triangle and discover ten turns later that their checkers are racing the wrong way. A simple test is to trace one checker from 24 down to 1 and confirm that the rival follows the reverse physical route.
There are thirty checkers, a pair of ordinary six-sided dice for each turn, and,in Tavla Modern,an optional decision marker called the doubling cube. It is not a die used to move a checker. Keep it separate from the two movement dice. Even in Classic, a checker may land on one of your occupied points; building a pile does not force you to leave space between friendly checkers. The restriction applies to points occupied by two or more opposing checkers.
Starting a game and reading the dice
In common international backgammon play, each player rolls one die to decide the opening: the higher number starts and plays the two numbers shown. Equal numbers are rerolled. A house table might decide the first player differently; a digital game determines its own opening. The Nard Online product brief specifies the movement and variant features, but does not separately document every opening-toss interface detail. Treat the standard procedure as background, not a verified screenshot-level promise about the app.
After the opening, a regular throw presents two movement numbers. A 6 to 3 permits one six-pip move and one three-pip move, provided both have legal destinations. You may use different checkers or move the same checker twice. Two moves on one checker still require a legal stopping point between them: a checker cannot leap over a blocked intermediate landing simply because the total is nine. Try three then six if six then three would be blocked; dice order is an actual decision, not a decorative detail.
A double, such as 4 to 4, gives four separate four-pip moves. It is not a single sixteen-pip jump. A double can be spent on four pieces, on one piece in four legal steps, or divided among available checkers. If a later stage of that sequence is blocked, you may have to choose a different order that uses more of the roll. Familiarity with dice probabilities helps, but knowing when a landing is legal matters more than memorizing combinations.
What makes a destination legal
An open point is empty, occupied by your own checkers, or occupied by exactly one opposing checker. You may land on that lone enemy checker, hit it and move it to the bar. A point held by two or more opposing checkers is closed to you. Compare this with Long Nard, where even one opposing checker closes a point because hitting is not part of the game.
Imagine your checker stands on your point 13, and you roll 5 to 3. If point 8 contains two opposing checkers, 13/8 is not allowed. You could investigate 13/10 using the three if point 10 is open, then another move from point 10 using the five only if point 5 is open. This is a conditional example: the legality of every landing depends on the complete position, and no unspecified enemy stack should be assumed away.
You can pass over a closed point when making one die-sized move; the ban concerns where that particular move lands. But if you split the roll into two movements of the same checker, the intermediate landing is real and must be available. That distinction is worth practising with physical pieces. Place two opposing checkers on 10, leave 8 empty, and compare a hypothetical five-pip jump from 13 to 8 with a three-pip stop from 13 to 10. Only the latter tries to stop on the closed point.
Two dice are separate obligations
Backgammon is not a game in which a player may casually save a bad die for later. Under standard movement rules, play both numbers when legal. If only one number can be played, play it. If each number can be played separately but there is no legal way to play both, the higher number must be played. For doubles, make as many of the four legal moves as possible. A blocked roll forfeits movement, not the whole game.
Suppose every possible legal path after a 6 to 4 allows only one die. If the six has a legal route and the four has a different legal route, but neither can be followed by the other, choose the six. The larger-die rule is not permission to select the more appealing checker. If a legal move sequence uses both dice, that complete sequence takes priority, even if it forces a blot to remain exposed. Board judgment begins after legality is settled.
This rule makes move order unusually important near the bar or a crowded home board. One sequence may use both numbers, while the reverse order runs into your opponent's block. Before calling a move impossible, look at alternative checkers and the other die order. Nard Online supplies legal-move highlighting and an undo option before confirmation; those are aids to understanding the turn, not replacements for learning why it is legal.
The blot: one checker is exposed
A blot is a point occupied by exactly one checker of a colour. Unlike a pair, a lone checker offers no protective barrier. When your opponent lands on your blot, your checker is hit and put on the bar. The capturing checker occupies that point. This is normal Tavla play, not a penalty for making an illegal move. A point with two friendly checkers is often called made; an opponent cannot land on it while the pair stays together.
Picture your single checker on your 8-point and an opponent whose route brings a legal landing there. They roll the number needed to land exactly on that physical triangle. Your checker goes to the bar; theirs takes its place. The same triangle has different point numbers for each player, so describe the position by player and destination rather than saying that the opponent also moved to “their 8.” If the point had held two of your checkers instead, the arrival would have been blocked.
An exposed checker is not automatically a mistake. Sometimes leaving a blot establishes a stronger home-board point next turn; sometimes avoiding every risk traps you behind an opponent's structure. The strategic questions belong in Tavla strategy. Here the essential fact is mechanical: a single enemy checker can be hit, two or more cannot. Remember that small threshold, and many apparently mysterious legal moves become obvious.
Re-entering a checker from the bar
If you have a checker on the bar, you must try to bring it back before moving any other checker. Re-entry takes place in your opponent's home board, the area corresponding to your points 24 through 19. A roll of three offers the entry at your 22-point; a six offers your 19-point. The destination must be open under the usual one-enemy-checker threshold. Entry is a move, so a lone opposing blot there may itself be hit.
Say you roll 6 to 3 while one checker waits on the bar. Your 19-point is closed by two opponents, but your 22-point is empty. You must use the three to enter bar/22. Then, if possible, play the six legally from any checker, including the one just entered. You may not ignore the available three, move another checker six, and leave your captured piece waiting because the alternative looks more attractive.
With two or more checkers on the bar, available dice go toward re-entering as many as can legally return. If both entry points for your roll are blocked, you cannot move that turn. A completely closed opponent home board can delay you over several throws. It is not a permanent elimination: on a later turn, an entry may become available. This is why building home-board points matters even before the endgame.
Working through a hit and a return
Consider a simplified position stated entirely from your viewpoint: your checker occupies your 13-point; an opponent has a single checker on your 8-point; your roll is 5 to 2. The five allows 13/8, hitting the checker on 8. After that move, the two must also be used if a legal landing exists,perhaps 8/6, provided 6 is open, or by moving another checker. Capturing with one die does not erase the obligation to examine the second die.
Now reverse the roles for the following turn. The captured opponent has a checker on the bar and rolls 4 to 1. In the opponent's own numbering, they check entry points 21 and 24 respectively. If 21 is closed and 24 open, the one must be used to re-enter; the four can then move if the position permits. Notice that the opponent's numerical map is reversed compared with yours. Do not place the returned checker by tracing your home-board numbers.
Home boards, made points and closing a route
A player's home board consists of points 1 through 6 from that player's perspective. It serves two purposes. It is the destination for their own race, and it is the zone into which their opponent must re-enter after being hit. A home board containing several made points therefore creates an awkward obstacle for captured enemy checkers. Six closed points in the opponent's home can leave a checker on the bar unable to return that turn.
The same principle can slow an uncaptured runner. Two opposing checkers on a point stop you from landing there, but do not stop a sufficiently long die-sized move from passing over it to a legal destination. A consecutive series of made points is often called a prime. In Tavla, a six-point prime is not subject to the Long Nard anti-prison rule from the other game. Don't import that restriction into a short-backgammon position.
Home-board construction is not permission to bear off early. Even if ten checkers are neatly stacked on your 1- and 2-points, the five still outside must come home before you can remove any. This is a common misunderstanding when the remaining distant pieces are vulnerable. You might be tempted to trade your strong near-home position for instant points, but the bearing-off gate is absolute.
Bringing the last checker home
As your pieces turn the final corner, count carefully. Your home board is your points 1 to 6. All fifteen active checkers must be in that zone before you bear off. A checker still on the bar counts as outside; one sitting on your 7-point is also outside. “Most of them are home” is not sufficient. The rule is a useful checkpoint before you apply the dice to remove checkers from the board.
Suppose fourteen checkers occupy your home points and the last stands on your 9-point. You roll 3 to 1. If the 6-point is open, the three may move 9/6, completing your home group. You can then use the one according to legal movement or removal possibilities. But you cannot use the one to bear off an existing 1-point checker before the move that brings the last outsider home. The sequence matters because eligibility can change during a turn.
If a checker is hit after bearing off has begun, the process pauses. You must re-enter from the bar, travel all the way back to your home and get every active checker within 1 to 6 again. Pieces already borne off stay off the board. That is why an endgame blot can be costly even when you have removed more checkers than your opponent: one hit forces a long detour before the remaining bear-off resumes.
Bearing off with exact dice
Once all your active checkers are home, an exact die removes a checker from its matching point. Roll a six and you may bear off from point 6. Roll a three and you may bear off from point 3. Each die is a separate action, and doubles mean four actions. You may also make a legal move within the home board rather than remove a checker, provided the full-roll rule remains satisfied.
An oversized die has a special rule. If you roll a six but your highest occupied point is 5, you may remove a checker from 5 with that six. If you still have a checker on point 6, you may not use the six to remove one from 5 instead. And if your 6-point is empty but you have a checker on 5, a roll of four does not automatically allow removal from 3: you may need to move a checker from 5 toward home first.
Try this miniature case: all your remaining checkers are on 5, 3 and 1, with no checker on 6. You roll 6 to 2. You may use the six to take a checker from the highest occupied 5-point, subject to the rest of the legal turn. For the two, evaluate moving a 3-point checker to 1, or another permitted move. The right answer is determined by the complete position and use of the roll, not simply the desire to remove the largest number of pieces immediately.
Winning, mars and points
The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins. A normal win applies when the losing player has already removed at least one checker. If the loser has removed none, the result is a gammon, traditionally called mars in Tavla. Nard Online's supplied rules specify that mars counts double, rather than being merely a more impressive way to describe the same single result.
Traditional Western backgammon also distinguishes a backgammon result: the losing player has borne off none and still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board. Standard Western rules score that condition at three times the basic value. This guide describes that conventional distinction for educational completeness. The supplied Nard Online feature brief explicitly confirms mars/gammon doubling but does not independently confirm that a separate triple-scoring result is implemented. Do not promise it as an app feature without a rules-owner check.
A hit is never itself a point. Neither is a long prime, a clever double or a spectacular last roll. Scoring is decided at the end by the defined result and, in Modern, any applicable cube value. If your discussion concerns a casual physical match, first agree whether you are recording games won or the conventional point totals. Mixing those ideas is how a friendly evening ends in a surprisingly long argument over an apparently simple mars.
Tavla Classic: play without a cube
In Tavla Classic, the dice move checkers and the outcome is scored without a doubling cube. You still hit blots, return from the bar, move opposite directions and bear off. Mars remains the double result documented for the game. There is no cube button to press and no mid-game offer to double the result through that mechanism. The distinction is much narrower than a beginner might expect.
For a newcomer, Classic is a sensible place to focus on checker play. A throw of 5 to 4 means decisions about destinations, exposure and timing; you do not also have to evaluate a doubling offer. You can still study sophisticated choices about hitting and building points. Removing the cube doesn't turn Tavla into Long Nard; it simply removes one separate layer of risk and scoring decisions.
Do not describe a Classic game as one with a disabled cube that a player can turn on at will. Nard Online presents Tavla Classic and Tavla Modern as distinct supported modes. If two players want to learn cube decisions, start a Modern game instead. On a real board, place the cube aside for a no-cube session, then add it back only when both players have agreed which rules they are learning.
Tavla Modern: the doubling cube
Modern Tavla adds a six-faced cube marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64. In standard backgammon convention, the cube begins centred at value one. Before rolling on your turn, an eligible player may offer a double. The other player either accepts and continues at twice the current value, or declines and gives up the current game at the value before the offer. The cube changes the value attached to the result, not how far a checker travels.
After an accepted double, the player who accepted controls the cube and ordinarily decides whether to offer the next redouble. If the cube is at two and the owner offers four, a refusal concedes the prior two-point value; an acceptance continues at four. You need not memorize advanced match-equity calculations to understand the sequence. Place the cube in the right hands, note the current value, and make the decision before the movement dice are rolled.
Three turns that teach real decisions
Turn one: an opening choice. Imagine a checker on your 24-point and a roll of 6 to 1. A potential sequence is 24/18, followed by 18/17, if both 18 and 17 permit landing. Another arrangement of the same dice may use the one to move a separate checker. You cannot declare 24/17 valid from the total alone when one required intermediate stopping point is closed. Mark every intermediate destination before you judge the final point.
Turn two: a dangerous contact. Your 13-point checker faces a single opposing checker on your 10-point, and you roll 3 to 5. 13/10 hits if that point really contains only one enemy checker; the five remains an obligation. If your 10-point were instead occupied by two opponents, the three could not land there. There may still be a legal five-pip move 13/8, subject to the actual position. The difference is not luck: it is the occupancy threshold at the precise landing point.
Turn three: a careful finish. All active checkers are in your home, including one at 6, two at 4 and others lower. You roll 6 to 4. The six can remove the checker at 6, and the four can remove one from 4, if both actions are legal under the full position. If the 6-point were empty and your highest checker stood at 4, the six could take a 4-point checker by the oversized-die rule. These are two different reasons for removal; naming which one applies makes the rule easier to remember.
Frequent disputes at a real board
“Can I jump over a blocked point?” Yes, with one die-sized move, if the final landing is open. “Can I stop on it between two dice?” No. “Can I move my other pieces while a checker waits on the bar?” Not while legal entries remain to be made. “Can I refuse to play the second die because it exposes a blot?” No, when it is legally playable. These distinctions sound technical until you watch the same roll become legal in one order and illegal in another.
A different kind of dispute concerns conventions not fully described in the Nard Online owner brief. Who throws the first dice in a particular digital interface? Is a historical tavla house rule being used? Does a specialized tournament triple result apply? Those questions require the relevant table agreement or product rules confirmation. Don't fill gaps with certainty. If an optional rule has not been documented as part of the app, teach it explicitly as a comparison rather than presenting it as a feature.
In a friendly game, pause the board when disagreement arises. State whose perspective numbers are being used, identify each required landing and count the opposing checkers on it. If you can trace a legal sequence using the most dice, the position usually settles the problem without an argument about who played more tavla as a child. With digital legal highlights, inspect the alternatives before confirming the move.
Building better habits without memorizing every roll
Start by checking four things on every turn: whether you have a checker on the bar, which destinations are closed by opposing pairs, whether both dice can be used, and whether a new blot will be exposed. When you reach home, add a fifth check: are all active checkers on points 1 to 6? These simple questions are more useful in the first week than advanced names for positional patterns.
For practice, place two checkers on your 13-point and opposing pairs on 10 and 8. Roll 5 to 3 and ask a friend to list each possible intermediate landing. Change one opposing pair into a single checker and repeat. Suddenly the same numbers create a capture option. Next, put one checker on the bar and see how that obligation changes the move order. Small controlled exercises teach far more than shouting “always attack” at every exposed checker.
Tavla Rules: The Complete Guide to Short Backgammon: Android is available on Google Play, while the iPhone submission remains in Apple review.
Common mistakes
A very common mistake is to copy the one-checker blocks from Long Nard. In Tavla you need two opposing checkers to close a point; a lone checker can be hit. Another is forgetting that the bar comes first, even when the player has an attractive attacking throw elsewhere. A third is treating doubles as a total-distance leap rather than separate legal steps. These misunderstandings cause far more trouble than rare exotic positions.
Players also remove checkers before bringing every active piece home, treat an oversized bearing-off number as permission to choose any point, or forget the higher-die rule when only one of two numbers can be used. In Modern, newcomers sometimes offer a cube decision after rolling, which misses the standard timing. Keep movement, bearing-off eligibility and cube timing in separate mental boxes; each has a different test.
Finally, do not mistake virtual-coin tables for a cash-prize product. Nard Online coins cannot be withdrawn or exchanged for real-world value. Equally, do not advertise an unavailable iPhone or Android download just because a browser game is already live. Accurate rules include accurate product context, especially when a friend is deciding where and how to try the game.
Frequently asked questions
How many checkers does each Tavla player use?
Fifteen. The standard starting layout from each player's own perspective is two on point 24, five on 13, three on 8 and five on 6. The other player mirrors that pattern while travelling the opposite physical direction.
Do players move in the same direction?
No. In Tavla, checkers move in opposite physical directions around the board toward their own home areas. Each person's numbered route goes from their personal point 24 down to 1.
Can I hit a single opposing checker?
Yes. A point with only one enemy checker is a blot; landing there hits it and sends it to the bar. A point held by at least two opposing checkers is closed.
What happens when my checker is on the bar?
You must re-enter it through the opponent's home board before moving other checkers. If neither die offers a legal entry, you cannot move on that turn.
Must I use both dice?
Yes, if legal. When only one number can be used, play it; if either number could be played alone but both cannot, the larger number is mandatory. Doubles grant four separate moves.
Can I bear off while one checker is on point seven?
No. All active checkers must be in your home board, points 1 to 6, with none on the bar. If a checker is hit during bearing off, re-enter and return it home first.
What is mars in Tavla?
Mars is the traditional name for a gammon: the winner removes all fifteen checkers before the opponent has removed even one. The supplied Nard Online rules say that this result counts double.
Is a backgammon worth three in Nard Online?
A triple-result backgammon exists in traditional Western rules, but the Nard Online product specification supplied for this project does not explicitly confirm separate triple-result implementation. The owner must verify this before the site promises it.
What is the difference between Classic and Modern Tavla?
Both share the movement and hitting rules. Modern adds the doubling cube; Classic does not. It is the cube decision, not a change in checker setup or movement direction, that separates these modes.
Can I play Tavla against a computer without internet?
Yes. Nard Online supports offline computer opponents at Easy, Medium and Hard difficulty, plus Pass & Play on one device. The browser game is separately available at /play/.
Does the doubling cube mean real-money betting?
No. The cube measures the scoring value of a Modern Tavla result. Nard Online virtual coins have no real-world value and cannot be exchanged, withdrawn or cashed out.
Where can I learn the deeper strategy?
Begin with legal movement and bar re-entry here, then study Tavla strategy for risk, made points, primes and cube judgment. For contrasting regional rules read backgammon variants.
Summary
Tavla is a race with contact. You aim to bring all fifteen checkers home and bear them off, but every loose checker can be hit and sent to the bar. Move in the direction of decreasing numbers from your own perspective, make both dice work when legal, give re-entry priority, and remove checkers only after all active pieces reach home. The normal result is a win; mars is double under the supplied game rules.
Tavla Classic is the same contact game without a doubling cube. Tavla Modern adds that separate scoring decision. If you can explain why a single checker may be hit, why a blocked bar entry stops a turn, and why an empty 6-point can make a six useful during bear-off, you know the rules well enough to follow a serious game. Strategy can come next.