Backgammon Variants

The variants at a glance

Long nardy

The biggest backgammon variant by number of players. Each side's 15 checkers start on a single point, the head; both players move the same way round the board; one checker is enough to hold a point, and nothing is ever hit. Only one checker may leave the head per turn (with an exception for 6-6, 4-4 and 3-3 on the first turn), and you can't build a wall of six points unless at least one opposing checker is already past it. The game is all about blocks and timing. Rules: long nardy rules; comparison: long nardy vs backgammon.

Acey-deucey

An American variant long associated with the US Navy. Its rules differ from crew to crew, but the core is:

• all 15 checkers start off the board and enter through the opponent's home board, exactly as a hit checker enters from the bar;
• in most versions you may move checkers already on the board before the rest have entered;
• the roll 1-2 ("acey-deucey") is special: play the 1 and the 2, then choose any double and play it four times, then roll again;
• hitting, the bar and bearing off work as in backgammon.

Because every checker has to travel the whole board, games are long and full of hitting.

Hypergammon

Backgammon with just three checkers each, on your 24-, 23- and 22-points. Everything else is standard. With so few checkers, the game is fast and sharp — and small enough that computers have worked out perfect play for every position. A good way to practice hitting and racing in a few minutes.

Nackgammon

Proposed by the backgammon expert Nack Ballard to make the opening less settled. The setup moves one checker from the 6-point and one from the 13-point back to the 23-point: 2 on 24, 2 on 23, 4 on 13, 3 on 8, 4 on 6. With four back checkers instead of two, positions are more complex and games last longer.

Plakoto

One of the three games of Greek tavli. Each player starts with all 15 checkers on their own 24-point, and the players move in opposite directions as in backgammon. The key difference: landing on a lone opposing checker doesn't hit it — it pins it. The pinned checker can't move until your checker leaves. Pinning the opponent's last checker on their starting point (the "mother") usually wins the game outright; local rules vary on the details. More, in Greek: Πλακωτό.

Fevga

The third game of tavli, and the Greek relative of long nardy. All 15 checkers start on one point, both players move the same way round the board, there's no hitting, and a single checker holds a point. The opening and blocking rules differ from long nardy. In Greek: Φεύγα.

Tavla and other national names

Many "variants" are simply backgammon under another name with local habits: Turkish tavla (no cube, matches to 5), Greek portes, Russian short nardy. France has jacquet, a no-hitting game played from one starting point, like long nardy. The doubling cube is the one addition that changes standard play the most — see the doubling cube.

Play the two big ones

NARDEON has the two most-played members of the family: backgammon and long nardy, online against people, with friends, on one screen or against the computer.

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Updated: October 24, 2026