Ristikontra

Last updated
Ristikontra
A point-trick game in which tricks are won by matching rank
Alternative namesRistiklappi
Type Trick-taking
Players2×2
Cards52
PlayClockwise
Related games
Sedma

Ristikontra or ristiklappi, sometimes translated as cross-clap, is a Finnish point-trick game for four players using a standard 52-card pack. Card suits do not play a role in this game, and there is no ranking order. A trick is won by the last player to play a card of the same rank as the card led. [1] :259 [2] :305f [3]

Contents

The game is a highly unusual member of the ace–ten family, immediately related only to the Central European card game known as Sedma, Hola or Zsírozás. [4] :268

Basic rules

Point-values of cards
RankA10KQJ98765432
Value1110432

The game is played by four players in fixed partnerships, sitting crosswise. A standard pack of 52 cards is used. The suits are irrelevant for this game, and the ranks are not ordered in a hierarchy. The cards have the card-point values that are standard for games of the ace–ten family: ace 11, king 4, queen 3, jack 2, ten 10. There are 120 card-points in the pack. The object of the game is to win more than half the card-points in tricks, i.e. at least 61 points. A party that wins all card-points wins double. [1] :259 [2] :305f [3]

Every player is dealt 6 cards. The remaining cards form a stock from which the players fill up their hands while it lasts. [1] :259 [2] :305f [3]

Eldest hand leads any card to the first trick. The remaining players are completely free in which card to play to the trick. The last player to play a card of the same rank as the card led wins the trick and leads to the next trick. While the stock lasts, after each trick the players fill up their hands, starting with the winner of the trick. [1] :259 [2] :305f [3]

Instead of playing a card from their hand, players also have the option of playing in the dark by playing the top card of the stock instead of a hand card. In this case they do not draw a card when the trick is over, as their hand is already complete. [1] :259 [2] :305f [3]

Variations

Point-values of cards
RankAKQJ1098765432
Value54321

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinochle</span> Card game

Pinochle, also called pinocle or penuchle, is a trick-taking ace–ten card game, typically for two to four players and played with a 48-card deck. It is derived from the card game bezique; players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of characters into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category which also includes the game belote. Each hand is played in three phases: bidding, melds, and tricks. The standard game today is called "partnership auction pinochle".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All fours (card game)</span> English card game

All fours is a traditional English card game, once popular in pubs and taverns as well as among the gentry, that flourished as a gambling game until the end of the 19th century. It is a trick-taking card game that was originally designed for two players, but developed variants for more players. According to Charles Cotton, the game originated in Kent, but spread to the whole of England and eventually abroad. It is the eponymous and earliest recorded game of a family that flourished most in 19th century North America and whose progeny include pitch, pedro and cinch, games that even competed with poker and euchre. Nowadays the original game is especially popular in Trinidad and Tobago, but regional variants have also survived in England. The game's "great mark of distinction" is that it gave the name 'jack' to the card previously known as the knave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bezique</span> 19th-century French card game for two players

Bezique or bésigue is a 19th-century French melding and trick-taking card game for two players that came to Britain and is still played today. The game is derived from piquet, possibly via marriage (sixty-six) and briscan, with additional scoring features, notably the peculiar liaison of the Q and J that is also a feature of pinochle, Binokel, and similarly named games that vary by country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sixty-six (card game)</span>

Sixty-six or 66, sometimes known as Paderbörnern, is a fast 5- or 6-card point-trick game of the marriage type for 2–4 players, played with 24 cards. It is an ace–ten game where aces are high and tens rank second. It has been described as "one of the best two-handers ever devised".

Pedro is an American trick-taking card game of the all fours family based on auction pitch. Its most popular variant is known as cinch, double Pedro or high five which was developed in Denver, Colorado, around 1885 and soon regarded as the most important American member of the all fours family. Although it went out of fashion with the rise of auction bridge, it is still widely played on the western coast of the United States and in its southern states, being the dominant game in some locations in Louisiana. Forms of the game have been reported from Nicaragua, the Azores, Niobe NY, Italy, and Finland. The game is primarily played by four players in fixed partnerships, but can also be played by 2–6 individual players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polignac (card game)</span>

Polignac is a French 18th century trick-taking card game ancestral to Hearts and Black Maria. It is played by 3-6 players with a 32-card deck. It is sometimes played as a party game with the 52-card pack; however, it is better as a serious game for four, playing all against all. Other names for this game include Quatre Valets and Stay Away. Knaves is a variant and it is also similar to the Austrian and German games, Slobberhannes, Eichelobern and Grasobern.

Cinch, also known as Double Pedro or High Five, is an American trick-taking card game of the all fours family derived from Auction Pitch via Pedro. Developed in Denver, Colorado in the 1880s, it was soon regarded as the most important member of the all fours family in the USA, but went out of fashion with the rise of Auction Bridge. The game is primarily played by 4 players in fixed partnerships, but can also be played by 2–6 individual players.

Catch the ten, also called Scots whist or Scotch whist, is an 18th-century point-trick ace–ten card game that is recorded as being played only in Scotland, although evidence suggests a possible German origin. Unlike standard whist, it is played with a pack of only 36 cards, the fives and below being omitted. In the trump suit, the jack is the highest card. Despite its alternative name, it has nothing to do with standard whist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klaverjas</span> Dutch card game

Klaverjas or Klaverjassen is a Dutch four-player trick-taking card game that uses a Piquet pack of 32 playing cards. It is closely related to the game of Klaberjass and is one of the most popular card games in the Netherlands, traditionally played in cafes and social clubs. It offers a considerable level of complexity and depth. It has numerous variants, but its basic rules are universal.

Smear is a North-American trick-taking card game of the all fours group, and a variant of pitch (setback). Several slightly different versions are played in Michigan, Minnesota, Northern and Central Iowa, Wisconsin and also in Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedma</span> Czech card game

Sedma is a Czech 4-card trick-and-draw game played by four players in fixed partnerships with a 32-card Bohemian-pattern pack. Card suits do not play a role in this game, and there is no ranking order. A trick is won by the last player to play a card of the same rank as the card led.

Mariage or Mariagenspiel is a German 6-card trick-and-draw game for two players in which players score bonus points for the "marriage" of king and queen of the same suit. The game, first documented in 1715 in Leipzig, spawned numerous offshoots throughout continental Europe and gives its name to the marriage group of card games, the widest known of which is probably sixty-six. Many of these are still the national card games of their respective countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of card game terms</span>

The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific, but apply to a wide range of card games played with non-proprietary packs. It should not include terms solely related to casino or banking games. For glossaries that relate primarily to one game or family of similar games, see Game-specific glossaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brusquembille</span> French card game

Brusquembille or Briscambille is a historical, French, 3-card trick-and-draw game for two to five players using a 32-card piquet pack. The game has variable trumps. Side-payments are made for keeping or winning aces and tens.

Elfern or Elfmandeln, is a very old, German and Austrian 6-card, no-trump, trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card, French-suited Piquet pack or German-suited Skat pack. The object is to win the majority of the 20 honours: the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten in a Piquet pack or the Ace, King, Ober, Unter and Ten in a Skat pack. Elfern is at least 250 years old and a possible ancestor to the Marriage family of card games, yet it is still played by German children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triomphe</span>

Triomphe, once known as French ruff, is a card game dating from the late 15th century. It most likely originated in France or Spain and later spread to the rest of Europe. When the game arrived in Italy, it shared a similar name with the pre-existing game and deck known as trionfi; probably resulting in the latter becoming renamed as Tarocchi (tarot). While trionfi has a fifth suit that acts as permanent trumps, triomphe randomly selects one of the existing four suits as trumps. Another common feature of this game is the robbing of the stock. Triomphe became so popular that during the 16th century the earlier game of trionfi was gradually renamed tarocchi, tarot, or tarock. This game is the origin of the English word "trump" and is the ancestor of many trick-taking games like Euchre and Whist. The earliest known description of Triomphe was of a point-trick game, perhaps one of the earliest of its type; later, the name was applied to a plain-trick game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binokel</span> Card game

Binokel is a card game for two to eight players that originated in Switzerland as Binocle, but spread to the German state of Württemberg, where it is typically played with a Württemberg pattern pack. It is still popular in Württemberg, where it is usually played in groups of three or four as a family game rather than in the pubs. In three-hand games, each player competes for himself, while in four-hand games, known as Cross Binokel (Kreuzbinokel), two teams are formed with partners sitting opposite one another. The game was introduced to America by German immigrants in the first half of the 20th century, where it developed into the similar game of pinochle. Binocle was still played in Switzerland in 1994. In south Germany, the game is sometimes called by its Swabian name, Benoggl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Briscan</span> French card game

Briscan is an 18th-century, French ace–ten card game for two players played with a 32-card piquet pack. It is a member of the marriage group of games in which the 'marriage' of a king and queen brings a bonus score, but briscan takes this simple concept to extraordinary lengths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorum (card game)</span> Hungarian card game

Lorum or lórum is an old, Hungarian, compendium card game for 4 players. Although it is the ancestor of the French game, barbu, it is still played today. It uses a German-suited pack of 32 cards and comprises 8 individual contracts, each with different rules, each of which is played four times so that a session consists of a total of 32 individual games and lasts about 1½ hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papillon (card game)</span>

Papillon is an old French card game of the fishing type for three or four players. It has been described as "perfect for children who know how to count".

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Parlett, David (2008), The Penguin Book of Card Games (3rd ed.), Penguin Books, ISBN   978-0-14-103787-5 .
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Parlett, David (2004), The A–Z of card games (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, ISBN   978-0-19-860870-7 .
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 McLeod, John , ed., Ristikontra , Card Games Website.
  4. Parlett, David (1990), The Oxford guide to card games: a historical survey , Oxford University Press, ISBN   978-0-19-214165-1 .