Tavli Board Setup — How to Place the Checkers

Before You Start: What You Need

A tavli board with 24 points (triangles), 15 white checkers, 15 red (or black) checkers, and a pair of dice. If you play digitally on Tavli.net, the setup is automatic — but it helps to know what each point means.

The board is divided into 4 quadrants of 6 points each. Points are numbered 1–24 from each player's perspective: your point 1 is the opponent's point 24.

Portes Setup (Backgammon)

The classic layout starts with checkers spread across the board. Each player places their 15 checkers on 4 points:

The layout is symmetrical: what you do on one side, the opponent mirrors on the other. This spread creates immediate tension — you have checkers both forward and backward, and you must decide what to run and what to hold.

• 2 checkers on point 24 (the farthest back)
• 5 checkers on point 13
• 3 checkers on point 8
• 5 checkers on point 6 (inside your home board)

Plakoto Setup

In Plakoto there is no spreading. Both players start with all 15 checkers stacked on the opponent's home point — that is, the opponent's 1-point.

In practice: you start bottom-right, your opponent top-left. You move counter-clockwise. The simplicity of the setup is deceptive — complexity emerges from the pinning.

Fevga Setup

Fevga resembles Plakoto in setup: all 15 checkers start together. White sets up top-right (their 1-point), red sets up bottom-left (their 1-point).

The key difference: both players move in the same direction (counter-clockwise). There is no opposing front — one player chases the other around the board.

Direction of Movement by Variant

In Portes the players move in opposite directions — one goes left, the other right. They meet in the middle and hitting occurs.

In Plakoto the same applies: opposite directions, but instead of hitting there is pinning.

In Fevga both move in the same direction — like runners on the same road. That's why there is no hitting: you never meet head-on.