ΠόρτεςPORTES · Greek tavli

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How to play Portes

The board

• Portes is the Greek form of backgammon. Each side has 15 checkers, set up as in backgammon: yours are 2 on your point 1 (top right, deep in the computer's home), 5 on 12, 3 on 17 and 5 on 19; the computer's mirror them. Choose white (ivory, the default) or black under You play; you always sit on the same side.
• The two sides travel in opposite directions. You move right → left along the far side, then left → right along the near side into your home board (bottom right, 19–24), and bear off. The computer comes the other way and its home is your 1–6, top right.
• Roll two dice and move by each number. Doubles are played four times.
• Who starts: each side throws one die and the higher starts — by rolling again, or (Settings → Play) by playing those two opening dice as the first move.

Doors and hitting

• A point is closed to you — a door (πόρτα) — when the opponent has two or more checkers on it.
• Landing on a point with a single opposing checker (a blot) hits it: it goes to the bar in the middle of the board and must start again.
• One checker can play both dice only by touching down on the point between, so that point must be open; a blot there is hit on the way.
• Play both dice when you can; if only one can be played, it must be the larger.

The bar

• A checker on the bar must enter first, into the opponent's home board: for you, a die of 1–6 enters on your point 1–6. Nothing else of yours may move while a checker is on the bar.
• A closed point cannot be entered. If no die lets you in, the turn is lost.

Bearing off & scoring

• Once all 15 are in your home board, bear off by exact roll, or with a higher number from your furthest-back point. A checker hit meanwhile must come all the way round again first.
• First to bear off all 15 wins 1 point; a mars (the loser has borne off none) scores 2. There is no doubling cube and no triple win (backgammon) in Portes.
• Match play (Settings → Play): games continue until one side reaches 5 points.

Opponents

• 1 Beginner – random · 2 Novice – careless pip-counter · 3 Intermediate – hits and builds · 4 Advanced – weighs every risk · 5 Expert – looks at every reply.

Games

Puzzles

Settings

Favourites level, colour, lighting, view and every setting below, in one click

Board style

Play

End my turn automatically after my last move (no Done / Enter) Play a match to 5 points (mars counts 2) — off: single games with a running score Opening throw: the winner plays the two opening dice as the first move (off: the winner rolls again)

Display & sound

Retro lamp light — a warm pool of light from a lamp hanging over the board; the room around it goes dark Point numbers on the rails Show the computer's last move — glowing arcs and rings from where its checkers left to where they landed, for a few seconds Round counter at the top — round 10 is each side's tenth turn, the moment the strategy guide's "after ten turns" figures describe Show the sum of the two dice in the move message — a 6–5 reads "(sum 11)" Show winning chances — your chance and the computer's, estimated from computer play-outs of the board as it stands (updated each turn) Sound effects Free view — drag to turn the board, scroll to zoom (off: the board stays where it is; also the 🔒 button or V)