Bearing off in nardi (gayvana) is the last stage of the game: the checkers you brought into your home now have to leave the board, and whoever takes off all fifteen first wins the game. The rules sound simple, but this is exactly where many won games slip away, to a wasted move inside home, an exposed checker or a die used the wrong way. Below are the bearing-off rules exactly as they work on tamashebi.cc, with real dice examples and the mistakes players make most often.
When bearing off starts
Bearing off starts when every checker you still have on the board is in your home, on points 1 to 6, and none is on the bar. One checker in the yard or on the bar and you cannot bear off yet. The condition is checked at every step, not once for the whole turn: if one checker stands on point 8 and you roll 5-3, the five brings it in to point 3, and the three can then bear off from point 3, with that very checker or another.
The bearing-off rules
When bearing off, a point's number is exactly the distance its checker still has to the edge of the board. Three rules follow from that, and together they cover every situation.
The exact number
A die bears off a checker from the point with the same number: panji (5) from the 5 point, chari (4) from the 4 point, yaki (1) from the 1 point. That is the simple case. But bearing off is not compulsory: you may use a die to move inside your home instead, if that is safer, for example moving from the 6 point to the 1 point rather than bearing off from the 5 with a five. The only restriction is the rule that you must play as many dice as you can: if both dice can be played, both must be.
An empty point: move a higher checker
If there is no checker on the die's point but there is one further out, on a higher point, that die cannot bear off. It must be played inside your home with a checker from further out. An example: you have two checkers on point 6, three on point 4 and two on point 2, and you roll 5-3. The 5 point is empty but the 6 point is not, so the five moves a checker from 6 to 1. The 3 point is empty too, and you have checkers further out, so the three goes either from 4 to 1 or from 6 to 3. You cannot bear off a single checker this turn, though you have brought two closer.
The furthest checker
If there is no checker on the die's point and nothing further out either, the furthest checker comes off. An example: two checkers remain, on point 3 and point 1, and you roll 6-5. The six bears off from point 3, because points 4, 5 and 6 are empty. After that the furthest checker is on point 1, and the five takes it off too. Game over.
Doubles are played four times when bearing off as well. An example: two checkers on point 4, two on point 2, and you roll du-bara (2-2). Two of the twos bear off two checkers from point 2, and the other two bring the checkers from point 4 down to point 2; or you bring them down first and then bear off. Either way two checkers come off and two remain on point 2. One more rule: if only one of two different dice can be played, the larger one must be.
Being hit while bearing off
As long as an opposing checker is on the bar or in your home, contact is not over and a blot of yours is in danger. Their checker coming off the bar enters into your home, and the die is your point number directly: a checker entering with panji (5) lands on your 5 point. If you have a single checker there, it is hit.
Once you are hit, bearing off stops: first you must enter the checker from the bar into your opponent's home, then travel the whole board and bring it back home, at least thirteen pips and often more. Meanwhile your opponent may pull ahead, and if you have not borne off a single checker yet and the hit checker is in their home, mars or koks becomes a real danger. In the opposite case the Georgian rule helps you: if, while bearing off, your checker hits a lone opposing checker in your own home, your checker stays on that point for the rest of the turn (unless there is no other way to play your dice).
The race to bear off: who gets there first
Once the checkers have passed each other, bearing off becomes a race, and its result is often visible in advance. On tamashebi.cc each player's plate shows the pip count: the total distance all checkers still have to travel before leaving the board. One roll, doubles included, averages a little over eight pips. If you have 40, your opponent 48, and it is your turn, you are roughly two rolls ahead. But in the bear-off the total alone is not enough: five checkers on the 1 point add up to only 5 pips, yet taking them off still needs five dice, which without a double is three turns. So the fewer checkers left on the board, the more the number of checkers matters, not just the pips.
Common mistakes
- Trying to bear off while one checker is still in the yard. The game will not let you, but beginners often think the move is "stuck". Bring the last checker home first.
- Wasting moves inside home when contact is over. If your opponent's checkers are past yours, bear off a checker with every die; moving inside home only loses time.
- Leaving a blot while an opposing checker is on the bar. At such moments, safety first, speed second.
- Stacking the home unevenly. If all your checkers are piled on one or two points, some numbers get spent on moves inside home and nothing comes off.
- Forgetting to bear off one checker in a lost game. Until you have borne off at least one, you face mars (2 points) or koks (3 points). In a long match that often decides everything.
Tips for a safe bear-off
- Clear your home from the back: the 6 and 5 points first, so that checkers stay in pairs and no single one is left exposed.
- When an opposing checker is on the bar, remember which number enters on which point: your point k is hit by their k.
- Spread your checkers evenly across the home, so that every number has a checker to bear off.
- In a lost game, place one or two checkers early on the deep points, 1 and 2, so that at least one checker comes off at the first chance.
- On the site all of this is easy: a checker that can be borne off goes to the tray with one tap, using the exact die if there is one. If you make a mistake, the undo button takes back your last step before the turn ends.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I bear off with a higher number than I need?
- Only if it is your furthest checker. If another checker stands further out, the higher number has to be played inside your home.
- Do I have to bear off if I can?
- No. You may move inside your home instead, if it is a legal move. What matters is that you play both dice when that is possible.
- What happens if I am hit while bearing off?
- Bearing off stops. First you have to enter that checker from the bar and bring it back home; only then do you carry on bearing off.
- Play nardi online
- Georgian nardi rules
- Anatomy of the nardi board
- Nardi against a bot, and practice
- Multi-point nardi matches
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 games on Tamashebi.cc are played in a Georgian-language interface. They are free and use a virtual coin, never real money.