The Game Of Tabula

In the history of backgammon, one of the most ancient variations is the game of Tabula. The game of Tabula originated in ancient Greece several centuries BC. The game of Tabula was also the first popular backgammon variation in ancient England. The Greek emperor Zeno is responsible for most of the historical knowledge regarding the game of Tabula. Records that date back to around 480 AC! The game of Tabula used rules very similar to the game of backgammon as we know it today. If you know how to play backgammon then you will have no problem in learning the game of Tabula.

The game of Tabula is played on a standard backgammon board. The first major difference between the game of Tabula and backgammon is that Tabula uses three dice instead of two. In addition, both players begin playing with their checkers off the board. In the game of Tabula, the players enter the board on the same starting place and they both advance in the same direction. The objective in the game of Tabula remains the same, to reach the home board and to bear off all of your pieces.

In the game of Tabula, the decision on which player will start is decided by a roll of a single die. The player who rolled the higher number then throws all three dices and begins to play accordingly. To enter a checker in the game of Tabula, a player needs to move it to a number that one of the dices shows. What this means, according to the Tabula rules, is that if you rolled 1-3-4 you can place a checker on the first point, third point and the forth point. Just like in backgammon, when playing Tabula you can not enter a checker on a point that is already occupied by two or more of your opponent's checkers. On the rolls to follow you may enter new checker to the board or move already entered checker, although in the game of Tabula you can not move them to the next part of the board until you have entered all your checkers.

Hitting in Tabula is preformed in the same manner as in backgammon – if you hit your opponent (blot) it is moved to the bar. Entering from the bar in the game of Tabula is also made in the same manner – the player needs to enter his pieces to the starting table. If you can not enter your checkers then you must enter the checkers that you can and forfeit the reminder of your roll. Bearing off in the game of Tabula is also done in the same way as in regular backgammon. You must get all your pieces to the final table and then remove them from the table according to the dices show. The first player that gets all his pieces off the board in the game of Tabula – wins!

Want to read more about different Backgammon Variations? Go Back to our main Backgammon Variations page.