How to play Tawla 31

Tawla 31 is a race: move all 15 checkers around the board and bear them off before your opponent does. The rules differ from standard backgammon.

• Setup. Each player starts with all 15 checkers stacked in one corner and moves in one direction only.
• Opening. Until one of your checkers reaches the last quarter of the board, your opponent's starting corner, only your lead checker can move.
• No hitting. You can never land on a point your opponent holds, and checkers are never sent back.
• Dice. You can use both dice on one checker if the point in between is open. Doubles give four moves, not two.
• Bearing off. Once all 15 checkers are in the last quarter, you can bear off. An exact roll bears a checker off its point. A roll higher than your furthest checker bears that checker off. Otherwise the roll must be used to move.
• Scoring. The round winner scores one point for each checker the opponent has left. The winner starts the next round, and the first to 31 points wins the match.