Kotra (backgammon)

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Starting setup of a Kotra game

Kotra is an Icelandic type of backgammon or trick track.

How to play

Like today's backgammon, Kotra is played in pairs with 30 pieces (15 black, 15 white) and two dice on a game board. The game board is divided in the middle by the so-called bar. Depending on the light source (usually a candle in the Middle Ages), a distinction is made between the outer and inner borders. A total of four quarters are distinguished by the opposing alignment of the prongs.

General rules of the game

There are 12 spaces or spikes on each side of the board. White plays from field a to field x, black from field m to field l. In contrast to normal backgammon, white starts with all 15 pieces on point a and black starts with all pieces on point m (as shown in Figure 1). The last quarter, the respective home board (sx for white and gl for black), must be reached with all 15 stones.

Each player rolls a dice. The highest number begins, with the first move taking place according to the number on the dice. If the number is the same, the dice are rolled again. In the following, the players take turns to roll both dice.

The respective player throws two dice. When moving from the starting position to the home board, it is possible to advance the two numbers with two stones (i.e. for 3 and 5 one stone 3 and another stone 5 spaces) and with one stone first the number of eyes of one and then the to move the other die accordingly (first 3 spaces and then 5 spaces). The two results must not be added together and the stone must be moved in one move. You can only move on "free" fields (unoccupied, with your own stones or an opponent's stone that can be captured), so both fields must be "free" when moving with only one stone. The order of the two individual moves does not matter. This allows the player to still complete the move if one of the spaces is occupied (for example, if space 3 is occupied, first move 5 spaces and then 3 spaces). If two identical numbers are rolled (for example 5 and 5), this is a “ double ” and the player can move forward twice as many fields (i.e. a total of 20 instead of 10). It is up to the player whether he moves one, two, three or four stones, as long as the individual target fields are "free".

If a player advances to a field on which there is a single opposing stone (bare stone), this stone is considered captured and is placed in the middle of the game board (bar). However, the player is not obliged to capture if he has other stones available to advance. The opposing player can only make further moves when the captured stones are back in play. The captured stones must be placed back from the beam on your own starting board and brought into play. That can mean a long wait. The stones to be reinserted must be placed on a free point on the starting board. The player cannot put captured stones back into play on spaces that are already occupied by his own or on spaces that are occupied by two or more enemy stones. The starting field (a for white and m for black) is counted as the first field in the reinsertion. If there is no target field “free” on the start board, the throw is forfeited. The player also has the option of bringing two stones back into play with one throw.

Whoever is the first to play all 15 stones over field x (for white) or l (for black) from the home board is the winner. However, the 15 stones must all be in the home board before they can be removed. A stone can also be played with a higher number than required if there are no more stones on the spaces with the number corresponding to the number or higher numbers. For example, if a 5 is rolled and there are no stones on the fifth or sixth point in front of the target, then a stone from the fourth point can also be played. However, if there is still a stone on the sixth point, it must first be placed on the first point in front of the goal.

Special Kotra rules

1.If a player rolls doubles (two equal numbers) on the first throw, only one stone can be moved, unless a 6: 6 is thrown and a special rule comes into force, according to which four stones after g (white) or s ( Black) must be moved.

2. While these four stones remain together on g and s, respectively, they are as vulnerable as a single bare stone. If they are beaten, they must all be removed from the board and put back into play in the normal manner. Once one of these stones has been moved, the other three are protected from attack with the exception of rule 5.

3. A player may not move a piece from the opposing side of the board until he has moved five pieces from the starting position.

4. A player cannot place more than one stone on a point (except under Rule 2) until he has a stone in the furthest square on the opposite side of the board (l for white or x for black). Then he may place two or more stones on the prongs of his own and the opposing side of the board.

5. A player may not place a piece on a square with two or more opposing pieces, unless it is impossible to pass a block / sequence of enemy pieces. If he can land on a field and hit the stones on it, e.g. For example, if White had pieces on s, t, u, v, w and x, Black could not pass even if he rolled a 6. Therefore, he can place himself on each square according to the number rolled. It is therefore unwise to have two or more stones on six consecutive fields, as you can lose several stones at once.

6. If possible, a player must play the displayed number four times when throwing two identical numbers. (see amendment to rule 1) Winning the game

Profit opportunities

The game can be won in several ways:

  • Uttekt - play all stones (scores 2 counters)
When all of a player's pieces have reached their last quarter of the board (for example, the pieces from black are on fields g to l or those from white are on fields s to x), he may remove them. Throwing a double is the cheapest, as four stones can be removed in one round. If a player rolls a higher number than he needs to clear, he must remove the pieces from his backmost field so that the number of pips is largely used up. This can result in a bare stone and entitle the opponent to hit the stone. When that happens, the stone you hit must be reintroduced into the player's entrance quarter. The player cannot remove any more stones until the piece has returned to the last quarter. The first player to remove all of his pieces scores 2 points.
  • Jan - Junker (Score 15 points)
If a player has caught more tokens than there are empty spaces in his entry quarter, he is Jan or blocked. For example, if Black has five bare stones in his entry quarter and White captures two more stones and throws them off the board, Black can only bring one of these back into play and is then Jan or blocked. This ends the game and White scores 15 points.
  • Stór Jan - Big Junker (Score 15 points)
(Also known as “Sprängjan” in the Swedish board game) When one or more pieces of a player have been captured and there is no free space on which to place them again, because all fields in the first quarter are occupied by their own pieces and opposing double fields , it's impossible to bring them back into play. Therefore the game is over and the player becomes Sprängjan. His opponent receives 15 points.
  • Meistari - The Master's Profit (Score 13 points)
(Also called "uppspel" in the Swedish board game) This is achieved when a player places all of his 15 pieces on the opponent's end square at the end of the game; if, for example, all pieces are from black on 1 or all pieces from white are on x. The winner receives 13 points.
  • Stutti munkur - Little Monk (Score 7 points)
(Also known as "enkelt kronspel" in the Swedish board game) This happens when White has five pieces each? on v, w and x or black has five pieces on j, k and l. The winner gets 7 points.
  • Langi munkur - Great Monk (Score 5 points)
(Also known as "dubbelt kronspel" in the Swedish board game) White must place three pieces on t, u, v, w and x or Black three pieces on h, i, j, k and l. The winner gets 5 points.
  • Half Munkur - Half Monk (Score 3½ counters)
A player scores half a monk if he manages to get his checkers into the position of a Little or Big Monk by using only half the throw. That would be the case if White played for a Little Monk and had five pieces on x, five on w, four on v and one on s. If he rolled a 6 and a 3, he only needed a 3 to move the respective stone from s to v and get a Little Monk. But since he would not use the 6 that he also threw, he would only get half the counter reading for a Little Monk, namely 3½ counters.
  • Langi hryggur - Long Back (Score 3 points)
This can be achieved if White places three pieces on each of the fields s, t, u, v and w or Black places three pieces on each of the fields g, h, i, j and k. This will get 3 counters.
  • Litil Meistari - Little Master Win (Score 3 points)
This is done by placing eight pieces on x and seven on w or eight pieces on l and seven on k. This type of winning is only used by a few players. This allows 3 counters to be achieved.
  • Mar (additional 2 counters)
If a player hits an opponent's stone with a winning throw and throws it off the board, the opponent becomes Mar and 2 additional counters are added to the winner's result.
  • Throws: If a player has played all of his checkers before his opponent has even been able to remove a single check , he receives two counters for the lead, but his opponent receives five, seven or thirteen throws (the number varies in different parts of the Island) allowed to play a Great Monk, Little Monk, or Master. In the event that he succeeds, he scores the full amount at the end of the game. Some players do not allow throws because monks are very rare.
  • Additional throw: Some players allow the opponent to throw an additional throw at the beginning of the game, when their opponent has played all of his stones. If he succeeds in getting his pieces off the board with the additional throw, the game is declared a draw and both get 2 counters. If more than one game is played, the player who was able to play their checkers or who received a Jan begins the next game. Special winning methods do not count in this regard.