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Fevga
Fevga is one part of a three-headed dragon that makes up a triad of Greek variations of the game of backgammon. Fevga, Plakoto, and Portes are generally played back to back to back in match play. These matches can consist of 3, 5 or 7 points. Taken together, the three games are called Tavli.
When playing Fevga, each player will begin with fifteen checkers on the extreme right of the board. The opposing setups will be positioned diagonally from each other. Movement for both will be in the same direction around the board: counterclockwise. What the players hope to accomplish in this game is to move all of their checkers around the board and bear them off.
Play begins with the decision of which player will go first. This is settled with a simple roll of the dice. The person with the higher number goes first.
Movement is also determined by the roll of the dice. The number that is rolled will show how many points (pips) the player may move his checkers. The rules that apply to movement are as follows:
- A checker may be moved only to an open point. If a point is occupied by any opposing checker, you may not move there.
- There are two dice in this game, and after a roll, each dice represents a separate move. For example, if you roll a 6 and a 5, one checker may be moved five spaces to an open point while another may be moved six spaces to an open point. Both dice may be applied to a single checker, but only if the checker can move to an open space on both dice. To apply the 6 and 5 to one checker, the checker would need to make a move of six to an open point, and then make a move of 5 to another open point.
- If you roll doubles, you get to double your move. In other words, if you roll a pair of sixes, you have four separate moves of six to use.
- Ideally, both numbers in a roll should be used (or in the case of doubles, all four). If only one number can be played, the highest number must be the one that is used.
When making your first move, the first checker acts as a trail blazer. No other checker can move until that first checker has passed your opponent's starting point. This means your first two or three moves can only be made with that lead checker. Once it has passed your opponent's starting point, then every other checker is free to move.
What will strike those who are playing Fevga for the first time is that there is no hitting in this game. One checker is king of the point it inhabits, and no enemy checker may occupy that space. Also, a player is not allowed to block all six points in his starting table. If you have blocked all six points and this keeps your opponent from being able to move at all, you must unblock a point to allow your opponent the opportunity to move.
Because success in this game is dependent upon bearing off your checkers, it is important to know how this is done. Bearing off can only be done once all fifteen of your checkers have been moved into the finishing table. You bear off your checkers by making a dice roll that relates to the point where the checker currently resides. At that point the checker can be removed from the board. If the point that is indicated by the roll of the dice is empty, than a legal move must be made by a checker that occupies a higher-numbered point. In the event that you have no checkers on those higher-numbered points, than you must take a checker off from the highest point that has a checker on it.
When a player is the first to bear all of his checkers off the board, then he wins the game and gets a point for his efforts. 2 points are scored if a player can bear off all his checkers before his opponent bears off any of his.
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