What is Fevga?
Fevga is the third game of Greek Tavli. Each player starts with all fifteen checkers on its own 24-point, in diagonally opposite corners of the board, and both sides move the same way round, each passing through the other's starting quarter on the way to its own home board.
Nothing is ever hit. A single checker is enough to hold a point, and the opponent can't land there. The game is about blocking: building walls of points in front of the opponent's checkers while keeping your own way clear.
Two rules keep the blocking fair. At the start you must bring your first checker past the opponent's starting point before a second checker leaves your own starting point. And you may not build six points in a row unless an opposing checker is already past it, nor fill either side's starting quarter with six points. The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins: two points if the opponent has borne off none, one point otherwise.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Backgammon | Fevga |
|---|---|---|
| Starting position | Standard BackgammonFifteen checkers each: two on your 24-point, five on your 13-point, three on your 8-point and five on your 6-point. | FevgaAll fifteen checkers on your 24-point; the two starting points are in diagonally opposite corners. |
| Direction | Standard BackgammonThe two sides move in opposite directions, each towards its own home board. | FevgaBoth sides move the same way round the board, each crossing the opponent's starting quarter. |
| Hitting | Standard BackgammonLanding on a single opposing checker (a blot) hits it to the bar; two or more checkers make a point the opponent can't land on. | FevgaNo hitting. A single checker holds a point, and the opponent can't land there. |
| Leaving the start | Standard BackgammonAny checker may move at any time. | FevgaYour first checker must pass the opponent's starting point before another checker leaves your starting point. |
| Six points in a row | Standard BackgammonAllowed anywhere. | FevgaNot allowed unless an opposing checker is already past it, and never filling either side's starting quarter. |
| Cube and scoring | Standard BackgammonOptional doubling cube; one point for a win, two for a gammon (the loser has borne off no checkers) and three for a backgammon (the loser also still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board). | FevgaNo doubling cube. One point for a win, two if the loser has borne off no checkers. |
History
Fevga completes the Greek Tavli cycle of Portes, Plakoto and Fevga, and is played wherever Tavli is, in Greece, Cyprus and the Greek communities abroad. Its name is usually explained by the Greek word for running away, since the game is a race in which the two armies chase each other round the board.
Games in which both sides move the same way round and a single checker blocks a point form a family of their own, the running games. Fevga's closest relatives are Moultezim in Turkey and, further east, Long Nardy, the most popular form of the game in Russia and the Caucasus. Rule details such as the six-point limit vary between regions, and this table combines the common versions.