Rules of Plakoto

Intro

# Plakoto is one of three backgammon games popular in Greece. Plakoto is also played in Bulgaria where it is known as Tapa.

Setup

# The board has 24 cells, grouped into 4 zones with 6 cells each. The last zone is called the Home zone.
# Each player starts with 15 checkers on their own Head position, as shown in the picture.

Game Object

# The objective of the game is to move all of your checkers around the board to your Home zone, and then bear them off (remove them from the board)

First Moves

# Both players roll one die. The player with the higher number goes first. That player then rolls both dice again to begin their first turn.
# In subsequent games, the winner of the previous game goes first.

Moving Rules

# The roll of the dice determines how many points the player may move their checkers.
# Checkers can only be moved to empty points or points occupied by the player's own checkers or  on  opponent's  one checker.
# The numbers on the two dice represent separate moves. For example, if you roll a 5 and a 3, you may move one checker five spaces to an open point and then three spaces to another open point.
# Doubles are played twice. For example, a roll of 6–6 means you have four sixes to play.
# Max Move Rule – A player must use both numbers of a roll if possible, or all four in the case of doubles. If only one number can be played, the higher number must be used.
# If a player has no possible legal moves, they must skip their turn.

Pinning the Opponent

# If you land on a point occupied by a single opposing checker, the opponent's checker is trapped until you remove your checker. You may place more of your checkers on the same point to strengthen the pin.
# The last checker on your starting point is called the mother. If the opponent pins your mother before it has moved, the game ends immediately and you lose two points.
# However, if the opponent still has checkers on his own starting point, the game continues, as his mother is still vulnerable. If both mothers become pinned, the game is a draw.

Bearing Off

# Once all 15 of your checkers are in your Home zone, you may begin bearing them off (removing them from the board).
# To bear off a checker, you must roll a number that matches the point the checker occupies, then remove it from the board.
# The Max Move Rule still applies during bearing off.
# If there is no checker on the point indicated by the roll, you must move a checker from a higher-numbered point if possible.
# Bearing off is not mandatory — you may choose to move a checker within the Home zone instead.

Scoring

# The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins the game. If the losing player has borne off at least one checker, he loses one point; otherwise, he loses two