Einwerfen
Encyclopedia
Einwerfen or Zählspiel is a German 8-card point-trick game for four players using a 32-card piquet pack. Its closest relative is the popular Portuguese game Sueca. Perhaps the most basic and typical representative of the Ace–Ten card games (along with Elfern
), this game was first described in 1873 but may be considerably older.
Tens rank low. After cutting for trumps, all cards are dealt to the players in batches of 4, each receiving 8 cards. The standard rules of trick-play as in Whist
apply. Any card may be led to a trick, subsequent players must follow suit if they can but are otherwise completely free in what they play. The trick is won with the highest trump, or if it does not contain trumps it is won with the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next trick.
61–90 card-points win the deal, 91–119 win it double (Matsch), and 120 win it triple (Bombe). In case of a tie the outcome is held in abeyance and is decided by the outcome of the next deal. The trump suit of the first deal is couleur favorite, i.e. any subsequent game that happens to have the same trump suit as the first counts twice.
speculates that it is much older.
The name of the related Portuguese game Sueca means Swedish (woman).
Elfern
Elfern, also known as Figurenspiel, Elfmandeln or Bohemian Schneider, is a German and Austrian 6-card no-trumps trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card piquet pack. The object is to win the majority of the 20 honours ace, king, queen, jack and ten.-Rules:Every player receives a hand of...
), this game was first described in 1873 but may be considerably older.
Basic rules
| Rank | A | K | Q | J | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 11 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 10 | – | ||
Whist
Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was played widely in the 18th and 19th centuries. It derives from the 16th century game of Trump or Ruff, via Ruff and Honours...
apply. Any card may be led to a trick, subsequent players must follow suit if they can but are otherwise completely free in what they play. The trick is won with the highest trump, or if it does not contain trumps it is won with the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next trick.
61–90 card-points win the deal, 91–119 win it double (Matsch), and 120 win it triple (Bombe). In case of a tie the outcome is held in abeyance and is decided by the outcome of the next deal. The trump suit of the first deal is couleur favorite, i.e. any subsequent game that happens to have the same trump suit as the first counts twice.
Additional rules
According to one account, a game always consists of 48 deals. At the beginning of such a game players draw card for being eldest hand (König) for every one of the 48 deals. The seating arrangement changes every 16 deals, as eldest hand's partner changes so that each of the three remaining players has that role once. The dealer is an opponent player determined by random.History and etymology
Einwerfen refers to throwing in valuable cards, namely into tricks (likely to be) won by one's partner. The alternative name Zählspiel, i.e. counting game, evidently refers to the counting of card-points. These two aspects of the game were far from novel when it was first mentioned in 1873. For this reason and because tens are still low in the game, card game researcher David ParlettDavid Parlett
David Parlett is a games scholar from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. His published works include many popular books on games and the more academic volumes "Oxford Guide to Card Games" and "Oxford History of Board Games", both now out of print...
speculates that it is much older.
The name of the related Portuguese game Sueca means Swedish (woman).