Plakoto rules: pinning, the mother and bearing off

Fifteen checkers on one point

Each player begins with all fifteen checkers on their starting point, their own 24-point. Bring them around to your home board, then bear them off. The players move in opposite directions, as in Portes, but an exposed checker can be held in place.

The diagrams use White's fixed numbers. White starts on 24 and moves toward 1, with home on 1–6. Black starts on 1 and moves toward 24, with home on 19–24. Numbered examples describe White.

Who starts?

For the first game, each player rolls one die. Ties are rerolled. The higher roller starts by rolling two fresh dice; the opening contest is not the first playable roll. In a continuing match, the winner of the previous game starts the next. Here, a drawn game and a new rematch both lead to a fresh opening contest.

What a pin does

You may land on an empty point, on your own checkers, or on one unprotected opposing checker. In the last case, your checker sits on top and pins the opponent. The bottom checker stays on that point. It does not go to a bar and cannot move while covered.

You may add more checkers on top of your pin. The trapped checker is released only when your last covering checker leaves. Moving one of two covers is not enough.

A point is closed to you when it holds two or more opposing checkers, or an opponent sitting on top of one of your pinned checkers. You cannot rescue your pinned checker by landing another of your own on its cover.

A pin also changes a two-die route. With White on 7, a lone Black checker on 5 and dice 2 and 1, White may pass through 5 and finish on 4. The Black checker is pinned after the first move, then freed after the second if no White cover remains. If White instead stops on 5 and uses the 1 elsewhere, the pin remains.

How to use the dice

A roll of 5 and 1 gives one five-point move and one one-point move. You may move two checkers or move the same checker twice. In the latter case, both the intermediate point and the final point must be legal. You cannot jump a blocked landing by treating the dice as a single six.

• Use both dice when possible. Look at both orders. You cannot choose a move that wastes a die if another legal sequence uses both.
• If only one die can be used, use the higher one when either value is individually playable. If only the lower value is legal, use that one.
• Doubles give four moves. A 3–3 provides four threes. Play all four if possible, otherwise the greatest number the position allows.
• Pass only when no move is legal. A bad-looking move is still compulsory if it is the only legal one.

The last checker at the start is the mother

The mother is whichever checker is the last one left on your starting point. It is not a specially marked checker chosen at the start. Its capture has a separate ending rule:

1. If you pin the opponent's mother after your own last starting checker has left, you win immediately for 2 points, even with dice still unused.
2. If your own mother is still at the start, the game continues. You win for 2 points as soon as your mother leaves, provided the opposing mother is still pinned.
3. If both mothers become pinned, the game ends in a draw, with no points.

For example, White can reach point 1 and pin Black's last starting checker. If White still has a checker on 24, that pin alone does not finish the game. White must get its own mother away while maintaining the pin; Black can instead threaten a pin on White's mother. These are the mother rules used here, so agree on any different house rule before playing elsewhere.

Bearing off

You may start removing checkers when every checker you still have on the board is in your home board. Checkers already borne off stay out. In your own numbering, home consists of points 1–6.

• An exact die can remove a checker from the matching point: a 4 can bear off from your 4-point.
• You may use that die for another legal move instead, provided you still meet the compulsory-dice rules.
• An oversized die may remove a checker only from your farthest occupied point. With checkers on your 5- and 2-points, a 6 can remove from 5, but not from 2.

Using the most dice still comes first. With fourteen checkers already off, one on your 3-point and a roll of 1 and 3, play 3→2 with the 1, then bear off with the 3. Removing the last checker directly with the 3 would leave a playable die unused.

A pinned checker still counts at its point. If it is outside your home, you cannot begin bearing off. If it is inside, it cannot itself move or be removed, and you cannot ignore it when deciding your farthest occupied point.

For example, with your checker pinned on your 5-point and an unpinned checker on your 2-point, a 6 cannot remove the checker on 2: the checker on 5 is still farther back. An exact 2 can remove from 2 if the other compulsory-dice rules allow it.

Winning and points

Bearing off all fifteen checkers wins the game. You score 1 point if the opponent has borne off at least one checker, or 2 points if they have borne off none. The two-point win is called mars, or gammon. There is no three-point backgammon and no doubling cube.

You can play this game on its own or as part of Trio, a cycle of Portes, Plakoto and Fevga.

The mother result described above can end Plakoto before either player finishes bearing off. To compare its blocking rules with the other games, see the Tavli guide and Fevga. Rule reference: Backgammon Galore: Plakoto.