Georgian Nardi Rules, Step by Step

Nardi is a game for two players. Each has fifteen checkers, two dice decide every move, and the goal is simple: bring all your checkers into your own home and bear them off the board before your opponent does. Below are the rules of Georgian nardi exactly as the game is played on tamashebi.cc. This is short nardi, the close relative of international backgammon, with hitting, the bar, and the Georgian scoring of oini, mars and koks. There is no doubling cube (the "davi") here.

The nardi board: home, yard and point numbers

The board has twenty-four points, the long triangles, twelve on each side. A strip down the middle, called the bar, splits the board in two. Of the four quarters, one is your home (sakhli), the one next to it is your yard (ezo, the outer board), and across the board lie your opponent's home and yard. On the site your home is always the bottom-right quarter. To make things easier to explain, we number the points from your side: 1 to 6 is your home (1 is the point nearest the edge of the board), 7 to 12 your yard, 13 to 18 your opponent's yard and 19 to 24 your opponent's home. Your checkers travel from 24 down towards 1; your opponent's move the opposite way, towards their own home.

• Two checkers on point 24, in the far corner of your opponent's home. These are your "back" checkers, and they have the longest way to go.
• Five checkers on point 13, at the start of your opponent's yard.
• Three checkers on point 8, in your yard.
• Five checkers on point 6, in your home.
• Your opponent has the same setup, mirrored. At the start each player has 167 steps to travel: the sum of the distances every checker still has to cover before it leaves the board.

How to play nardi: the opening roll and moving

At the start of a game each player rolls one die. Whoever rolls higher goes first and plays exactly those two dice on the first move, their own and the opponent's. On a tie both roll again, so the first move of a game is never a double. After that the players take turns rolling two dice each. If both dice show the same number, that is a double, and it is played four times: dor-chari (4-4) means four moves of four points each. One checker can travel sixteen points, two checkers eight each, or four different checkers four each. In a match of several points, every new game starts again with this one-die opening roll.

• Each die is one move. With 5-3 one checker moves five and another moves three, or the same checker moves first by one number and then by the other, eight points in total.
• When one checker plays both dice, the stop in between must be open too: the checker lands first after the five or after the three, and that point must not be closed.
• A checker may land on an empty point, on your own checkers (as many as you like), or on a point where your opponent has just one checker.
• A point holding two or more of your opponent's checkers is closed: you cannot land on it, but you can jump over it.
• Checkers only move forwards, towards your own home. There are no backward moves.
• The maximum-use rule: if both dice can be played, you must play both, even if you dislike one of the moves. If only one can be played, that one is played. If either could be played on its own but not both together, you play the larger number. With a double you make as many of the four moves as are possible.
• If you cannot play either die, the turn passes to your opponent.

Hitting, the bar and entering again

A checker standing alone on a point is exposed. If an opposing checker lands on it, whether at the end of a move or at an intermediate stop, your checker is hit (mokvla, "killed") and goes to the bar, the strip in the middle of the board. As long as you have even one checker on the bar, you cannot move any other checker: first you must bring it back to life (gatsotskhleba), that is, enter it into your opponent's home. The die counts the entry point from the edge of their home: a yaki (1) enters the checker on point 24, where your back checkers started, and a shashi (6) on point 19. A checker cannot enter on a closed point, and if a single opposing checker stands on the entry point, you hit it as you come in. If the points for both dice are closed, your turn passes; if your opponent has closed all six points of their home, no roll can help you until they open one of them.

The Georgian rule: hit in your own home and you stay put

tamashebi.cc plays a rule common at Georgian tables: if your checker hits an opposing checker inside your own home, it stays on that point until the end of your move. For example, you roll 4-2, move from point 8 down four to point 4 and hit the checker standing there. You can no longer play the two with that checker to point 2; the two must be played by another checker. You may bring a second checker to the same point, or, if you have two checkers there, move one of them away: what matters is that the point does not become empty. There is one exception: if there is no other way to play the die, the checker may move on, because this rule never costs you a move. The rule does not apply when you hit while entering from the bar, because that happens in your opponent's home, not yours.

Bearing off and the end of the game

• Bearing off (gaqvana) begins once every checker you still have on the board is in your home and none is on the bar.
• A die bears off a checker from the point with the same number: a panji (5) from point 5, a se (3) from point 3.
• You may also use a die to move a checker inside your home, if that suits you better.
• If you have no checker on the die's point but do have one further away (on a higher point), you must play the further checker inside your home.
• If you have no checker on the die's point and nothing stands further away, the furthest checker comes off: a shashi bears off a checker from point 4 if nothing is left on points 5 and 6.
• If one of your checkers is hit while you are bearing off, bearing off stops: you must first enter that checker and bring it all the way home.

The game is won by whoever first bears off all fifteen checkers. How many points they get depends on the loser's position: oini (a single win) is one point (the loser bore off at least one checker), mars (marsi) is two (the loser bore off none), and koks (koksi) is three (the loser bore off none and still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home). A match is played to 1, 3, 5 or 7 points, which you choose when you create the table.

Examples: how a move is played

1. 5-3 on the first move. The classic answer: one checker from point 8 five steps to point 3, another from point 6 three steps, also to point 3. Two checkers now stand on point 3, so it is closed, and you already have two closed points in your home, 6 and 3. A hit opposing checker can no longer enter on them.
2. Du-shashi (6-6) on your first roll of your own. You have four sixes. A common way to play them: both back checkers from 24 to 18, and two checkers from 13 to 7. That makes two new closed points, one in your opponent's yard and one in yours. If your opponent's first move closed one of those points, that option is gone and you look for another.
3. Entering from the bar. You have a checker on the bar and roll 5-2. The five enters it on point 20 of your opponent's home, the two on point 23. If both points are open, you choose one to enter on and play the other die with another checker or with the same one.
4. Hitting in your own home. 3-1: you move from point 6 three steps to point 3 and hit an opposing checker. You cannot take that checker on to point 2 with the one; it stays on point 3. Instead, if you have a checker on point 4, the one brings it to point 3 and closes the point where you hit.

Frequently asked questions

Are nardi rules the same as backgammon rules?

Mostly, yes: the board, the setup, hitting and bearing off match international backgammon. What sets Georgian nardi apart is the scoring (oini, mars, koks), the absence of a doubling cube, and local rules such as the checker that hits in its own home staying where it is.

Can I skip one die if I do not like the move?

No. If a die can be played, you must play it. You only lose a number that the rules make impossible to play.

How do I play on screen?

On your turn, tap the dice: the server rolls them, and both players see the same numbers. Tap a checker and every point it can move to lights up; tapping the same checker a second time moves it by the larger die, and when bearing off a single tap is enough. At the end of your move the game pauses for two and a half seconds: the ↶ button takes back your last step and ✓ confirms. On a phone the board is played in landscape, and on Android it fills the whole screen.

What happens if my move time runs out?

Each move has a time limit. If it runs out, the server finishes the move for you, within the rules.

Is "nardi tamashi" or "nardi onlain" this game?

Yes. That is how people search for nardi online in Latin letters ("tamashi" means "game"). On tamashebi.cc nardi opens in your browser, with nothing to download.

• Play nardi online
• Oini, mars and koks: how nardi is scored
• Nardi strategy: tips
• A glossary of nardi terms

Nardi on tamashebi.cc is free to play. Some tables use Domino Coin, a virtual in-game coin: it is never money, cannot be bought or cashed out, and means nothing outside the site. The game is for fun and for skill. The site is available in Georgian, English, Russian and Turkish.