Tapa (game) - The Match

The Match

Tapa is seldom played as a stand-alone game. Together with two other games, Tabla and Gjul Bara it is played in a match of 5 or as long as one of the players gain seven points. A common name in Macedonia and Bulgaria for all three games within a match is Tabla, the same as the first game. The first game is referred to as права (straight ) when a need for disambiguation arises.

When starting the match, each player rolls one die, to determine who will start. If it's a tie, the players roll again. But, unlike the regular backgammon, the already-rolled dice are disregarded and the player that won the first turn rolls both dice to begin. In the next game in the match, the player that won the previous has the first turn.