Winning
At Backgammon Variant - Plakoto
by: Oliver Mathews Plakoto
a variant of backgammon is a popular game in Greece. The motive behind playing
Plakoto is to bring all your checkers around to your own home board and then bear
them off. The player who bears off all of his checkers first wins the game. This
game is usually palyed along with the two other variants of backgammon, namely
Fevga and Portes. Together these three games are called Tavli and are played in
sequence usually one after the other. They have matches of three, five or seven
points. A Bulgarian version of Plakoto is known as Tapa. Playing
Plakato Every
player has fifteen checkers to start with. These checkers are placed on opponent’s
one-point. The players have to move their checkers in different direction on the
Plakato board. At the start of the game each player rolls one dice and the player
with the highest roll gets the chance to start. Unlike backgammon the player has
to again roll the dice to begin his first turn. A player who has won a game starts
the next game. The number of points, or pips, or the places a player can move
his checkers is decided by the roll of the dice. Plakoto
Rules In
the game of Plakoto a checker can be positioned only on an open point. An open
point is the one that is not occupied by two or more checkers of the opponent.
The numbers that appear after rolling the two dices make separate moves .For example,
if a player rolls 4 and 2, he may move a checker four spaces to an open point
and one more checker two spaces to an open point. A player also has an option
to move a single checker to a totla of six spaces to an open point the precondition
for this single move is that the intermediate points (four or two spaces from
the starting point) must also be open. Doubles
in Plakoto The
doubles in Plakoto are played twice. For example, a roll of 3-3 means that the
player can use the three’s four times. If it’s possible the player must
use both the numbers of a roll and all four numbers in the case he draws a double
in the roll of dices. Trapping
The Opponent Hitting
is not allowed in the game of Plakoto. In its place, if a player lands on a point
occupied by an opponent’s single checker, the opponent cannot move his checker
unless the player moves his checker. In other words the opponent’s checker
is trapped. A block is created by two checkers of a player lying on a point or
one of his checkers pinning the opponent’s checker. Mother
Checker Mother
checker is the last checker on a player’s starting point. It is very important
in the game of Plakoto. If the mother checker gets pinned by opponent’s checker
before it has left the starting point – the game is over and two points are
lost. This particular rule has an exception if the opponent has his own mother
checker at the starting point. A game in which mother checker of both the players
are pinned results in a tie. Bearing
Off Bearing
off in the game of Plakoto starts after a player has moved all of his fifteen
checkers on his home board. A player can bear off by rolling a number that corresponds
to the point on which the checker is placed. If there is no checker on the point
indicated by the roll, then the player has to make a legal move using a checker
on a higher-numbered point. If there are no checkers on higher-numbered points,
the player must remove a checker from the highest point that has a checker. In
this way he can remove all of his checkers from the board Scoring
The
first player who bears off all his fifteen checkers is declared as the winner
of the game. If the losing player has successfully borne off at least one checker,
he loses only one point; otherwise two points are lost. About
The Author
Oliver
Mathews is an avid Backgammoner and is working with http://www.gammontutor.com.
He is actively involved in promoting backgammon online. He writes informative
articles on Backgammon Tips and Strategies.
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