The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (106 page)

then the contract is automatical y that of the suit led: he cannot

afterwards claim to have intended a no trump or other contract.

The rules of trick-play are as at Handjass, except that, in a no trump

contract, players must always fol ow suit if possible.

Declaring melds Upon playing to the first trick, each in turn

announces the highest meld they hold. The partnership of the

announces the highest meld they hold. The partnership of the

player holding the highest meld scores for al the melds in both

their hands, multiplied by the factor applying to the contract.

Melds count and outrank one another as at Handjass (above), except that, in a

reverse contract, sequences of equal length are decided in favour of that with the higher trick-winners. For example, 6-7-8 is the highest and Q-K-A the lowest of a three-card sequence. As to quartets, Kings beat Aces, Queens beat Kings, and so

on.

Stock (marriage) In a no trump contract there can, by definition, be

no marriage. In a suit contract the marriage does not count as a

meld at this point, but if anyone holds it they score 20 upon

playing the second card of it to a trick, also multiplied by the

relevant contract factor.

Score At end of play, each side totals their trick-points, including 5

for last, and adding 100 if they won every trick. This sum is

multiplied by the relevant contract factor before being added to

their cumulative total.

Game Play up to 2500 points, or 3000 if Undenufe counts

quadruple. If during the course of play a player believes his side

has already taken enough card-points to have reached this total, the

play ceases, except that anyone who holds the marriage but has not

yet scored for it may now do so. If the claim proves correct, the

claiming side wins; if not, they lose.

If a side claims to have won in the first trick of a hand, and the

other side makes a counterclaim, the mat er is set led in the order

‘Stock– Wys–Stich’. This means that the winners are the first side to

reach 2500 (3000) as the result of counting, first, the marriage, if

anyone has it; or, failing that, second, the scores just made for

melds; or, failing that, the point-value of any cards just won in the

first trick (when completed).

The Stock-Wys-Stich rule is not invariable, and the Schweizer Wirteverband of

Zurich claims the original form to have been Stock-Stich-Wys. ‘In some Swiss

cafes, you will see a notice saying "Stock-Wys-Stich" or whatever: this is the local house rule, hung up by the managementto avoid disputes among customers.’

(Nick Wedd, on the Pagat website.)

Variations There are too many variations in al these games of Swiss

Jass to justify listing them here. See, for example, Puur, Nail, As,

published by A. G. Mul er, Neuhausen am Rheinfal .

Note on play As Forehand, don’t bid a black or ‘vegetable’ suit

(acorns or flowers) unless you either have a strong hand, or you

have reason to believe that your partner may be able to nominate a

more profitable contract.

Schieber. Scores are typical y chalked on

a blackboard marked with a Z-shaped grid for each partnership.

From each side’s viewpoint, the top bar shows hundreds bundled in

fives, the oblique bar fifties bundled in twos, and the bot om

twenties bundled in fives. Here the southern partnership has 7

twenties bundled in fives. Here the southern partnership has 7

hundreds, 3 fifties, and 9 twenties, making 1030. Odd points above

or below 20 are writ en as a numeral on the right, with a bar above

to show a minus, and being erased and replaced after each deal (if

it changes). The actual score represented is therefore 1023. The

northern partnership stands at 1363. It is possible to buy special y

designed scoreboards in Swiss shops.

Pandour

2-4 players, 24 cards

Pandours were eighteenh-century Croatian or Austrian militiamen

of just the sort who would have played a game like this. It is the

Jass equivalent of Boston or Solo Whist, and one of the oldest

members of its family. A similar game (Pandoeren) was formerly

popular in the Netherlands.

Preliminaries Three players are active, but four often play, with

each taking turns to deal and sit that hand out. Play to the right.

The normal Jass pack is stripped to 24 by the removal of Sixes and

Sevens. Deal eight each. If two play, leave a spare hand, face down.

Bidding Forehand bids first. The lowest bid is 100, which is an

undertaking to make at least 100 points in melds and tricks.

Subsequent bids rise in tens up to the maximum 300, with four

extra bids inserted. Misère is a bid to lose every trick, pandour is a

bid to win every trick, and each of these may be bid at no trump or

(higher) with a trump suit. The bidding sequence runs:

100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, misère

without, misère with, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, pandour without,

without, misère with, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, pandour without,

250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, pandour with.

Whoever bids highest becomes the soloist. Pandour with a trump

cannot be overcal ed, and if anyone absent-mindedly bids 310 or

higher they are obliged to play a trump pandour themselves.

Play The soloist leads to the first trick, and if playing misère in

trumps must start with a trump. During the course of the first trick

melds are cal ed and scored as at Handjass or Schieber, but with the

addition of four Nines andasequenceofsix, both scoring 150. The

rulesoftrick-play are as at Handjass and Schieber, except that in a

trump misère you are al owed to undertrump if unable to fol ow

suit.

Score The contract scores are 1 game-point for each 50 bid (100-

140 = 2, 150-190 = 3, etc.). Misères count 4 each, pandour

without trumps 5, with trumps 6. If successful, the soloist scores the

number of game-points appropriate to his bid (not more). If not,

this amount is scored by each opponent, including the dealer if four

play, but not if this would give him the game: you can only reach

the target on active service. Game is 15 points, or any other agreed

total. A player upon reaching the target score drops out of play.

The last player left in loses.

Variations Any of the fol owing additional bids may be included by

agreement.

Push Bids may be made with a ‘push’ (stossen) of one, two or even

more cards. A bid of ‘100, push 2’, for example, means that if that

contract is played, everyone first passes two cards face down to his

right-hand neighbour and then picks up the two passed from the

left. Raising the number of cards to be pushed raises the level of

bidding. For example, a bid of 100 is overcal ed by 100 pushing

one card, that by 100 pushing two, and so on.

Piccolo is a bid to win exactly one trick, either without or (higher)

with trumps. It counts 4 game-points, and is overcal ed by any

misère.

Under-pandour is a bid to lose exactly one trick (by winning

exactly seven). Without

trumpsitcounts5andisovercal edbypandourwithout; with trumps it

counts 6 and is overcal ed by pandour with.

Differenzler

(3-4p, 36c) Deal three batches of three cards to four players, or four

batches of three to three players, and turn the last for trumps. Melds

don’t count, only trick-points, which are the usual 157. Each in turn

bids to win an exact number of trick-points. Play as at Handjass. At

end of play, each scores the dif erence between what he bid and

what he took. The winner is the player with the lowest total after

12 deals. A player who fulfils his bid exactly deducts 10 from his

current total.

Mittlere

(3p, 36c) Deal twelve cards each in threes and play as at Handjass

but without scoring for melds. The aim of the game is to win at

least one trick, to take not more than 99 of the 157 trick-points

available, and to avoid taking the middling number of trick-points.

Play begins at no trump. As soon as one player cannot fol ow suit

to the card led, the suit ofwhatevercardheplaysimmediatelyand

automatical ybecomes trump for the rest of the deal. This means

that if a Jack or Nine was played earlier, and lost the trick,

that if a Jack or Nine was played earlier, and lost the trick,

whoever won it wil have to count it as 20 or 14 respectively

instead of 2 or 0 points!

With three players there wil be either one winner, who scores

plus 2 to the others’ minus 1 each, or one loser, who scores minus 2

to the others’ plus 1 each. If everyone takes at least one trick but

under 100 points, the player in the middle loses. If one takes no

tricks or 100+ points, then he loses to the others. If one takes no

tricks and another takes 100+, then the one in the middle wins. If

one takes 100+ points but succeeds in taking al the tricks, then he

wins. My sources do not state what happens if two players tie, but I

think the third should then win if he has at least one trick and not

more than 99 points, and otherwise lose. A game is 12 deals.

Schmaus

(2p, 36c) The Swiss version of Smousjas, the two-player trick-and-

draw member of the family. From the usual 36-card Jass pack deal

nine each in threes, turn the next for trump, and half cover it with

the remaining cards, forming a face-down stock. So long as at least

two cards remain in stock the holder of the †6 may, upon winning

a trick, exchange it for the turn-up. Non-dealer leads to the first

trick. So long as cards remain in stock there is no need to fol ow

suit. The trick is taken by the higher card of the suit led, or by the

higher trump if any are played. The winner of each trick takes the

top card of the stock, waits for the other to do likewise, and may

declare a meld before leading to the next. The usual melds apply,

with the exception of four Nines for 150, but with the addition of

sequences of six for 150, seven for 200, eight for 250, and nine for

300. King and Queen of trumps can be declared for 20

independently of a longer sequence, but not at the same trick. No

single card may be declared more than once in sequences of the

same length, but maybe declared in longer sequences. For example,

declaring A-K-Q prevents the later declaration of K-Q-J, but not of

K-Q-J-T. When the last card of the stock has been taken, the last

trick-winner may declare a final meld. Strict rules of trick-play then