The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (88 page)

trumps and half cover it with the stock.

Play Eldest leads. So long as cards remain in stock players may lead

and fol ow with any desired card regardless of suit. A trick is taken

by the highest card of the suit led, by the highest trump if any are

played, or by the first played of two identical winning cards. Each

trick winner draws the top card of stock, waits for the others in turn

to do likewise, then leads to the next. When the stock is empty,

players must fol ow suit and head the trick if possible; must trump

and overtrump if unable to fol ow; and may renounce only if

unable to do either.

Marriages Upon playing to a trick you may declare a marriage by

showing a King and Queen of the same suit and playing one of

them. Count 20 for a plain marriage or 40 in trumps, but only if

your side has already won a trick, or wins the trick to which you

are playing.

Example: The leader’s side has not yet won a trick. Trump Ace is

led. As this is bound to win, leader’s partner may declare a

marriage upon playing to it. The same principle may be extended

to any other certain trick.

No player may declare more than one marriage in the same deal.

A note may be kept of declared marriages to avoid argument.

Taking the turn-up You may at any time take the trump turn-up in

exchange for †7 (cal ed the dix), provided that (a) your side has

won at least one trick, and (b) the turn-up is covered by at least

three cards. Alternatively, you may place your †7 under the turn-up.

If, then, your partner has the other †7, he may either take the turn-

up and give you his †7, or invite you to take the turn-up if he

thinks it would be bet er in your hand. If he hasn’t, neither

opponent may take the turn-up, and, if either of them plays the

other Seven to a trick, you may promptly take the turn-up to

restore your hand to the correct number. You must do this before

the last draw of cards, and if the last draw includes a dix it may not

the last draw of cards, and if the last draw includes a dix it may not

be exchanged.

Score Play ceases when anyone claims either that their own side has

reached or exceeded 101 in counters and marriages, or that the

opposing side has done so and failed to claim before leading to the

next trick. If correct, his side wins a single game, or a double if the

other has not yet won a trick. (Even if they were about to win the

trick in which the winning side reached 101 by declaring a

marriage.) If incorrect, the other side wins a double game, or gaigel.

(Incorrectly claiming a win is cal ed ‘overgaigling’, and incorrectly

failing to do so ‘undergaigling’.)

Variations The version described above is that played in Remstal,

which also includes the fol owing local elaborations.

1. By agreement, the first trick in each deal (only) is played as

fol ows. Eldest leads a non-trump Ace, the opponents refrain

from trumping, and his partner throws him a high-counting

card. Having no such Ace, he may lead any other non-trump,

face down (this is cal ed ‘diving’). The others also play face

down; the played cards are faced; and the trick is taken by the

highest card of the suit led, trumps being powerless. It is also

permissible to ‘dive’an Ace, byplayingitface down and

announcing ‘second Ace’. In this case, however, it can be lost

if someone else plays the other Ace of the same suit, which

then counts as if it were the first Ace played. (But it is

permissible to dive an Ace if you hold its twin yourself, so

that there is no danger of losing it.)

2. A player showing five Sevens, whether dealt or drawn, wins

for his side without further play. The same result maybe

applied for holding five cards of the same suit.

3. An extension of the above is that a player holding four Sevens

or four of a suit, and waiting for the fifth, must announce ‘I’m

on Sevens’ or ‘I’m on a flush’. In this case, so long as cards

remain in stock, he is not permit ed to win a trick. Whatever

remain in stock, he is not permit ed to win a trick. Whatever

he plays counts as a plain-suit Seven, even if it happens to be

the Ace of trumps!

4. Some circles play with ‘winking’ – that is, conventional

signals, such as nods, winks, and grimaces, to indicate to a

partner the holding of certain cards or suits. Winks must be

common and intel igible to both sides, the aim being to make

them without being spot ed by an opponent.

HommedeBrou

(3-4p, 32c) An interesting marriage game recorded in an Académie

Universel e des Jeux published at Lyon in 1802. Four play in fixed

partnerships or three with a dummy. Use a 32-card pack ranking

ATKQJ987 or AKQJT987 (whether Ten ranks high or low is not

specified). Deal eight each and turn the last for trump. Rules of

trick-play, also unspecified, are probably those of Whist. King-

Queen of the same suit is a marriage, and K-Q-J of a suit is a tierce.

Before play, any marriage or tierce held in one hand may be

declared and scored by its holder. During play, a trick containing a

marriage or tierce (de rencontre) is scored by the side that wins it.

The basic score of 20 for a marriage and 30 for a tierce is doubled

if made in trumps, and doubled if made de rencontre. At end of

play each side adds the card-points they took in tricks, counting

each Ace 11, Ten 10, King 4, Queen 3, and Jack 2. Game is 300

points.

Tysiacha

3 players, 24 cards

Tysiacha is short for tysiacha odin, which is Russian for one

thousand and one, its target score. It is an excel ent three-hander

that should appeal to players accustomed to Skat and Sixty-Six.

Varieties of the game are played throughout eastern Europe: for a

selection of variants see

. The fol owing

rules are typical rather than absolutely definitive.

Preliminaries Three players use a 24-card pack, ranking and

counting thus:

A T K Q J 9

11 10 4 3 2 0

Deal Deal a batch of three cards each, then a widow of three cards

face down to the table, and the remainder one at a time til each

player has seven.

Object To be the first to reach 1001 points. Points accrue for

winning counters in tricks (120 in al ) and for declaring marriages.

Bidding Players bid to become the soloist. The first bid is made by

the player at dealer’s right (not by eldest), who must bid at least

100 or pass. Higher bids are made in multiples of 10. When two

have passed, the third is the soloist. If the first two players pass,

eldest is forced to bid at least 100.

Card exchange The soloist turns the widow up for al to see, except

in a forced game, when he takes it up without showing it. If the

widow is unhelpful, he may concede defeat by announcing ‘Forty

each’, in which case each opponent scores 40 and the soloist

deducts the amount he bid from his current score. Otherwise he

either repeats his bid or raises it to any higher multiple of ten –

unless he bid a forced 100, which may not be raised. He then passes

one card from his hand, face down, to each opponent, so everyone

one card from his hand, face down, to each opponent, so everyone

has eight cards.

Play The soloist leads first, and may establish trumps by declaring a

marriage (see below). If not, play begins at no trump. Players must

fol ow suit if possible, otherwise must trump if possible, otherwise

may play any card. The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit

led, or by the highest trump if any are played, and the winner of

each trick leads to the next.

Making trumps If you are on lead and hold a marriage, you may

declare it by showing both cards and leading one of them. The suit

of this marriage is thereby entrumped and remains so until changed

by another marriage (if ever). Your score for the marriage depends

on its suit as fol ows:

40, 60, 80, 100

Score Each opponent scores whatever they have made for counters

and marriages, unless this brings them to more than 1000, in which

case their score remains pegged at 1000. The soloist either adds or

subtracts the amount of his bid, depending on whether or not he

has taken at least as many points as he bid. The game can be won

only by a successful soloist, and that when his score exceeds 1000.

Variations Scores are often rounded of to the nearest five, though

the soloist may not round up if he took less than he bid. An

opponent’s score is then pegged at 995 or 1000 as the case may be,

but the soloist wins by exceeding 1000, if only by one point.

Notes on play Players unused to variable trumps may find it

dif icult to bid convincingly at first. As soloist, and given an even

distribution, you can normal y expect more than your fair share

(40) of the 120 available card-points. Your advantage of the widow

and the lead should yield something like 50 to 60, and more if you

can quickly establish a good trump suit, while a marriage in hand

can quickly establish a good trump suit, while a marriage in hand

wil add to this anything from40to100, thus explaining the

minimum forced bidof100. Multiple marriages are not

advantageous, as the card led from one general y loses the trick, and

it may then be impossible to get back in again to declare the next –

especial y if another suit is entrumped, or one of the marriage

partners is lost under the obligation to fol ow suit. Given four