Bulgarian tables players use words from Turkish, Persian and Greek, and English backgammon terms often have no direct match. This short glossary puts the two side by side.
The board and the game
The words you meet in every game.
| Bulgarian | English | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| табла | backgammon, tables | The board, the game, and in Bulgaria the whole family of games played on it |
| зар, зарове | die, dice | Two dice are rolled each turn |
| пул | checker | Each player has 15 |
| поле | point | One of the 24 triangles |
| капия | made point | A point with two or more of your checkers |
| самотен пул | blot | A single checker that can be hit |
| бар | bar | Where hit checkers wait to come back in |
| дом | home board | Your last six points |
| извеждане | bearing off | Taking checkers off at the end |
| точки (при броене) | pips, pip count | How far your checkers still have to travel |
Winning and the cube
On ZAR both the 2-point and the 3-point wins are called mars.
| Bulgarian | English | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| марс | gammon (and backgammon) | A win before the loser bears off any checker: 2 points, 3 if a loser’s checker is still on the bar or in the winner’s home |
| куб за удвояване | doubling cube | Doubles the value of the game |
| удвоявам | double | Offer to play for twice as much |
| приемам / отказвам се | take / pass | Accept the double, or give up the game at its current value |
| затискане | pinning | In Тапа: landing on a lone checker so it can’t move |
| майка | mother checker | In Тапа: the last checker on the starting point |
Names of the rolls
Many roll names came through Turkish from Persian numbers (yek 1, du 2, se 3, chahar 4, panj 5, shesh 6). The three you hear most at a Bulgarian table:
| Bulgarian | Roll | Note |
|---|---|---|
| шеш беш | 6-5 | Shesh (6) and besh (5 in Turkish); the roll that runs a back checker home |
| дюшеш | 6-6 | Double six, the biggest roll |
| дубара | 2-2 | Double two |
| чифт | any double | Played four times |