The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (98 page)

recorded in German as Bel e-Bruid means royal marriage. However

spelt, Klaberjass has always enjoyed greatest favour as a Jewish

game, which undoubtedly accounts for its travels and consequent

variations.

Preliminaries Two players, 32 cards. In each deal one player

becomes the maker by choosing trumps and thereby contracting to

score more than the other. Points are scored for declaring melds and

winning card-points in tricks, and the winner is the first to reach

500 over as many deals as necessary.

Cards Deal six each in threes. Stack the rest face down, turn the next

card for trump and place it beside the stock. Cards rank ATKQJ987

except in trump, which is headed by the Jack (Jass), fol owed by

the Nine (Menel).

trump suit J 9 A T K Q

8 7

card-points 20 14 11 10 4 3 2 0 0 0

plain suits

A T K Q J 9 8 7

The total of trick-points available is 162, consisting of 62 in trumps,

90 in plain suits, and 10 for winning the last trick.

Bidding There is an initial round of bidding to see if either player

wil accept the turned suit as trump. Elder may Take it, or Pass, or

Schmeiss. The last is an of er to become the maker with the turned

suit as trump if Dealer agrees, or to annul the deal if he doesn’t,

thereby preventing Dealer from becoming the maker himself. If

Elder passes, Dealer has the same three choices. If a schmeiss is

rejected by the opponent, the deal is annul ed and Elder deals the

next. (Note The Schmeiss option, though stil recorded in books, is

now rarely played.)

If both pass, Elder turns the trump card down and may propose

another suit as trump, or pass, or schmeiss, which is now an of er to

name a suit or abandon the deal. If he passes, Dealer has the same

options. If he also passes, the deal is annul ed and Elder deals next.

Completion of deal If trumps are made, Dealer deals another batch

of three cards each, then turns the bot om card of the stock face up

and places it on top. This card is for information only: it may not

be taken, and it plays no part in tricks or melds.

Dix If the original y turned suit was entrumped, either player

holding the trump Seven (dix) may exchange it for the trump turn-

up, provided that he does so before declaring any melds.

Melds A score is available for holding a sequence of three or more

cards in the same suit, sequential order being invariably AKQJT987

in every suit. A sequence of three counts 20, of four or more 50.

Only the player holding the best sequence may score. For this

purpose a longer sequence beats a shorter. If equal, the best is the

one with the sequential y highest cards. If stil equal, a trump

sequence beats a plain. If stil equal, neither scores. (Variant: If stil

equal, Elder scores.)

equal, Elder scores.)

To determine which player has the bet er sequence, Elder

announces, on leading to the first trick, ‘Twenty’ if he has a

sequence of three cards, ‘Fifty’ if four or more. In responding to the

first trick, Dealer announces ‘Good’ if he cannot match 20 or 50, or

‘No good’ if he can beat it. In case of equality, he asks first ‘How

many cards?’, then, if necessary, ‘How high?’, then, if stil necessary

‘In trumps?’ At the end of the first trick, the player who has the best

sequence (if any) must show and score for his best sequence, and

may show and score for any others also held.

Tricks Elder leads first, and the winner of each trick leads to the

next. The second to a trick must fol ow suit if possible, otherwise

must trump if possible. If a trump is led, the second must play

higher if possible. The trick is taken by the higher card of the suit

led or by the higher trump if any are played.

Bel a A player holding both King and Queen of trumps may score

20 for the marriage upon playing the second of them to a trick and

announcing ‘Bel a’.

Last trick Winning the last trick scores 10 points extra.

Score Both players then declare their respective totals for melds and

card-points. If the trump-maker made more points, both score what

they make; if less, his opponent scores the total made by both

players. If equal, the opponent scores whathetook and the maker

scores nothing. (Variant: the maker’s points are held in abeyance

and go to the winner of the next deal.)

The game ends at the end of the deal in which either player has

reached or exceeded 500 points. (Variant: It ends as soon as either

player correctly claims to have reached 500, the rest of that deal not

being played out.) The higher total wins.

Comment Scoring for sequences introduces an element of chance,

Comment Scoring for sequences introduces an element of chance,

especial y since three more cards are dealt between bidding and

playing, and the maker’s opponent may do very wel out of the

draw. In the long run, this factor evens itself out, and it should not

be taken too much into account when bidding. In particular, don’t

bid on the probability of fil ing a potential sequence. Look, rather,

to the hand’s trick-taking potential, on the certainty of bel a if held,

and on the probability that a four-card or high three-card sequence

already held wil prove to be the best.

To succeed as maker you must usual y take about 60 card-points

in tricks, of which you need to see at least 40 when bidding. Bet er

than a long trump suit for this purpose is the Jack of your proposed

trump, or three including the Nine and Ace. Without Jass and

Menel, you can easily lose even with a four-card trump; conversely,

you can win on as lit le as Jass alone and two plain-suit Aces.

Don’t swap the dix for the turn-up unless it yields a good

sequence, or bel a, or a safe trump worth 10 or more.

Alsos (Kaläber)

Alsos denotes a Hungarian variety of Klaberjass for two or three

players with extra bids borrowed from Tarock. It is extremely

complicated and became defunct in the 1950s with the rise in

popularity of Ulti. Alsos means ‘the Jacks game’, as distinct from its

predecessor, Felso’s, the ‘Queens game’, also cal ed Kalabriasz.

Smoojas (Smousjass)

(2p, 32c) The probable ancestor of Klaberjass and Belote first

(2p, 32c) The probable ancestor of Klaberjass and Belote first

appears in a Dutch book of 1821 with this name meaning ‘Jewish

Jass’. Deal nine each in threes from a 32-card pack, turn the next

for trump and half cover it with the rest of the stock, face down.

The turn-up maybe taken in exchange for the trump Seven when

possible. Cards rank and count thus:

trump suit J 9 A K Q T

8 7

card-points 20 14 11 3 2 1 10 0 0 0

plain suits

A K Q J T 9 8 7

The †J is cal ed Jas, the †9 Nel. Trick-points total 146 (60 in

trumps, 81 in plain suits, 5 for last). Melds rank and score from

high to low as fol ows: quint (five or more cards in suit and

sequence) 100, four Jacks 200, four Kings 100, four Queens 100,

four-card suit-sequence 50, three-card suit sequence (tierce) 20.

Note that a quint beats four Jacks but scores less.

Non-dealer leads. Second to a trick may play any card so long as

cards remain in stock. Thereafter, in the play of the last nine tricks,

the second must win the trick if possible, and trump if unable to

fol ow suit, with this exception: that the holder of Jas, if holding no

other trump, is not obliged to play it but may renege for as long as

he thinks fit. The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led, or

by the highest trump if any are played. The winner of each trick

draws the top card of stock, waits for the other to do likewise, then

leads to the next.

Before leading, a player may declare any combination he may

hold. The other player must then either declare ahigher-ranking

combination, or acknowledge the other’s ‘Good’. Whoever declares

the higher meld scores it. Sequences of equal length are determined

by the highest card. As between equal sequences, that in trumps

beats that in a plain suit. If stil equal, that of the first declarer

prevails. It is permissible to declare a longer sequence containing

cards that have already been declared in a shorter.

A player holding the King and Queen of trumps scores 20 for the

marriage upon leading one of them to a trick and showing the

marriage upon leading one of them to a trick and showing the

other. This applies independently of other melds.

When no more cards remain in stock, melds and sequences cease

to be declarable. There is a bonus of 100 for winning al nine of the

last-played tricks. At the end of play each player adds to his score

for melds that of al counters taken in tricks, and the winner of the

last adds 5. Game is 500 points.

Belote

2-4 players, 32 cards

Belote replaced Bezique as France’s national card game early in the

twentieth century, though not without stif opposition from Manil e.

It probably derives from one or more varieties of Jass played in the

east of the country, especial y in Alsace and Flanders, and was

introduced and disseminated throughout the country by French

soldiers returning from the most active theatres of the First World

War. Belote (spelt Belot e until the late 1920s) is the name of the

trump marriage. Some explain it as a contraction of bel atout, and

there is an obvious but not easily explained connection between it

and the Hungarian Bela. More plausibly, however, it could be a

diminutive of bel e, which in older card games denoted the card

turned to propose a suit for trumps, or the suit itself, and in this

game may original y have denoted the top Jack. There are many

varieties of Belote, and many local variations on each variety, but

for tournament purposes a standard version is promoted by the

Federation Francaise de Belote, founded in 1984. The fol owing

descriptions derive from Daniel Daynes, Le Livre de la Belote (Paris,

1996).

Basic Belote. Two, three or four play to the right. (For

partnership game, see below.)

Cards Thirty-two, ranking and counting as fol ows:

trump suit J 9 A T K Q

8 7

card-points 20 14 11 10 4 3 2 0 0 0

plain suits

A T K Q J 9 8 7

Three often play with only 24 cards, omit ing Sevens and Eights.

Deal If two or three play, deal six cards each (3+3); if four, five

each (3+2). Turn the next card for trump.

Object To score as many points as possible for tricks and melds,

and, in the case of the maker, to score more than any other single

player.

Trick-points The total of trick-points is 162 (see above), consisting

of 62 in trumps, 90 in plain suits, and 10 for last (dix de der).

MeldsThere are four kinds, from high to low:

meld

definition

score

foursome (carré) all four Jacks

200

orNines

150

or Aces, Tens, Kings or Queens 100

hundred (cent) suit sequence of fiveormore

100

fifty (cinquante) suit sequenceoffour

50

tierce

suit sequenceofthree

20

A card may count twice, once in a foursome and once in a

sequence. A higher type of meld beats a lower. As between

foursomes, the highest is Jacks, fol owed by Nines, and so on down

to Queens, with Sevens and Eights not counting. A sequence is three

or more cards of the same suit and in sequential order, which is

AKQJT987 in every suit, including trumps. As between hundreds,

the highest is that containing the highest top card, regardless of

the highest is that containing the highest top card, regardless of

length – e.g. five to the Ace beats six or seven to the Ten. As

between any two sequences of equal height, priority goes to a

sequence in trumps, or, if none, to the one declared first (thus

favouring eldest most and dealer least).

Bidding In the first round of bidding, each in turn, starting with

eldest, may pass or agree to make the turned suit trump. As soon as

a player makes, the bidding ends. If al pass, the turn-up is turned

down and there is a second round of bidding. This time the maker

is the first player to name a dif erent suit as trump, thereby

undertaking to score more than either of the others. If al pass

again, the cards are gathered in and the deal passes to the next in

turn. (Variant: Dealer is obliged to make trumps if no one else wil .

This rule is cal ed vache, ‘cow’.)

La valse (optional bid when two play). In either round of bidding, a

player may propose either to become the maker or to annul the

deal, as his opponent dictates. This prevents his opponent from

becoming the maker. This practice (equivalent to the schmeiss in

Klaberjass) is no longer current.

Dix If the trump suit is that of the turn-up and you hold the †7

(dix), you may exchange it for the turn-up at any time before

playing to the first trick, and may use it in a meld.

Further deal If two or three play, once the maker is established deal

another batch of three to bring everyone’s hand up to nine cards.