Russian Bank

Last updated December 08, 2023

Russian Bank, Crapette or Tunj, historically also called Wrangle,^[1] is a card game for two players from the patience family. It is played with two decks of 52 standard playing cards.^[2] The U.S. Playing Card Company, who first published its rules in 1898, called it "probably the best game for two players ever invented".^[3]

The goal of Russian Bank, like many card games, is for the player to get rid of forty-eight cards before their opponent can rid themselves of theirs. At the same time, it is required to build "piles" of suits, Ace through King, in the center of the board. If a rule regarding the placement of piles is broken, the opponent may call "Stop!" (or "Tunj!") to end one's turn.^[4]

Commercially produced versions of Russian Bank include Skip-Bo and Spite and Malice .^[5]

Name

Russian Bank is also called Double Solitaire. It is also known as crapette or crapot in Brazil and Portugal, as crapette in France^[6] (crapat is Breton for ladder), as touch, and as tunj in the Middle East (Arabic : طنج, other transliterations are tonj, tonge, tunje).^[4]

Rules

Player A
Talon 35 cards (face down)	Waste pile		Reserve 13 cards (top face up)
		♠
	♥	♥
	♦
	♣	♣
Reserve 13 cards (top face up)	Waste pile		Talon 35 cards (face down)
Player B

Start and setup

Each of the two players sitting opposite each other takes a pack of 52 cards, without jokers, shuffles it and lets the opponent cut it. The one who took off the highest card starts. The first player places their first thirteen cards in a "reserve pile", with the top card open, and the next four cards in a column (the "auxiliary columns") face up between both players. In the picture this is the right hand column. The same is then built up on the left side by the second player. There must be space between the two auxiliary columns for the eight aces, which will be placed there during the game (in the picture the two middle columns).^[4]

Gameplay

The first player then draws the remaining cards of their game one after the other, trying to either add each card to the "middle columns", or to add them onto the "auxiliary columns". The first card that the first player cannot fit in this way is placed in front of them as the beginning of their "waste pile" ("discard pile").^[4]

The second player follows, who does the same and still has the right to place cards that do not fit on the ace columns or the auxiliary columns on the opponent's reserve pack or on the opponent's waste pile if they match the suit, and are either one higher or one lower. The first player has the same right when the game continues. This allows a player to increase the opponent's card supply while reducing their own.^[4]

The top cards on each of the eight auxiliary places can be transferred to the column of aces as soon as they fit (i.e. they are the same suit, and one rank higher). It is generally advisable to use the open cards from the reserve pack first if possible, be it on the ace row or on the eight supply packs.^[4]

Once a player has run out of cards, on their next turn they can shuffle their talon and continue.^[4]

The one who is first with his cards at the end wins the game.^[4]

Middle columns

As the game progresses, as soon as they appear, the aces are placed in their designated places and form the foundation cards for families of increasing value. New cards are added on the aces in single increments in ascending order, ending with the kings.^[4]

Auxiliary columns

Cards must be placed on the auxiliary columns in red-black sequences, e.g. one could put either ♥ J or ♦ J on ♠ Q. Auxiliary cards can be moved around, but, unlike solitare, they can only be moved one card at a time, and assuming spaces are available for each card in turn.^[4]

Note, the early versions of the game had auxiliary columns being built in the same suit in descending order on the auxiliary columns, although this is no longer common.^[4]

A variation exists whereby instead of a column of four face-up cards, a player first places one or two rows of four face-down cards and then one face-up card on each face-down card.^[4]

Compulsory moves, and Stop! or Tunj!

If a player fails to make a "compulsory move", the opponent can shout "Stop!" or "Tunj!". The player's turn ends immediately and it is his opponent's turn. The "compulsory moves", in order of required preference, are as follows, assuming possible:^[4]

Playing the top card of your reserve to a foundation (the open reserve card takes precedence over all others)
Playing any other available card to a foundation (building the families on the aces takes precedence over any other possible move)
Playing your open reserve card to the auxiliary columns

In some versions these rules apply if the player simply touches a card that cannot legally be moved, for example, moving any card that is not available or does not fit.^[4]

If a card has been placed illegally, it must be reversed before the opponent's turn begins.^[4]

Notes

↑ The Illustrated Book of Patience Games, Louis Hoffmann, 1892, pp. 117–118, no.61 "The Wrangle"]
↑ Foster, Robert Frederick (1922). Foster's Russian Bank: A Card Game for Two Players. Dutton.
↑ U.S. Playing Card Co. (1922). The Official Rules of Card Games: Hoyle Up-to-date. p. 199. Russian Bank (OR CRAPETTE) This game, which is sometimes called Double Solitaire, has lately come into great favor as being probably the best game for two players ever invented.; Wood, Clement; Goddard, Gloria (1940). The Complete Book of Games. Garden City. p. 242. RUSSIAN BANK or CRAPETTE This Double Patience or Double Solitaire is often regarded today as the most enjoyable game for two players ever invented.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Rules of Russian Bank, Pagat.com. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
↑ "Spite and Malice" (p. 455ff) in The Penguin Book of Card Games by David Parlett, Treasure Press, 1987. ISBN 1-85051-221-3
↑ "Russian Bank" (p. 212) in Hoyle's Rules of Games (3rd edition) by Philip D. Morehead (ed.), 2001. ISBN 0-451-20484-0

Related Research Articles

Games of patience, or (card) solitaires as they are usually called in North America, have their own 'language' of specialised terms such as "building down", "packing", "foundations", "talon" and "tableau". Once learnt they are helpful in describing, succinctly and accurately, how the games are played. Patience games are usually for a single player, although a small number have been designed for two and, in rare cases, three or even four players. They are games of skill or chance or a combination of the two. There are three classes of patience grouped by object.

Klondike, also known as Canfield, is a card game for one player and the best known and most popular version of the patience or solitaire family, as well as one of the most challenging in widespread play. It has spawned numerous variants including Batsford, Easthaven, King Albert, Thumb and Pouch, Somerset or Usk and Whitehead, as well as the American variants of the games, Agnes and Westcliff. The distinguishing feature of all variants is a triangular layout of the tableau, building in ascending sequence and packing in descending order.

The Joker is a playing card found in most modern French-suited card decks, as an addition to the standard four suits. Since the second half of the 20th century, they have also been found in Spanish- and Italian-suited decks, excluding stripped decks.

Spite and Malice, also known as Cat and Mouse, is a relatively modern American card game for two or more players. It is a reworking of the late 19th century Continental game Crapette, also known as Russian Bank, and is a form of competitive solitaire, with a number of variations that can be played with two or three regular decks of cards.

Gargantua is a patience or solitaire card game that is a version of Klondike using two decks. It is also known as Double Klondike.

Napoleon at St Helena is a 2-deck patience or solitaire card game for one player. It is quite difficult to win, and luck-of-the-draw is a significant factor. The Emperor Napoleon often played patience during his final exile to the island of St Helena, and this is said to be the version he probably played. Along with its variants, it is one of the most popular two-deck patiences or solitaires. The winning chances have been estimated as 1 in 10 games, with success typically dependent on the player's ability to clear one or more columns. The game is the progenitor of a large family of similar games, mostly with variations designed to make it easier to get out.

Canfield (US) or Demon (UK) is a patience or solitaire card game with a very low probability of winning. It is an English game first called Demon Patience and described as "the best game for one pack that has yet been invented". It was popularised in the United States in the early 20th century as a result of a story that casino owner Richard A. Canfield had turned it into a gambling game, although it may actually have been Klondike and not Demon that was played at his casino. As a result it became known as Canfield in the United States, while continuing to be called Demon Patience in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. It is closely related to Klondike, and is one of the most popular games of its type.

Aces Up is a quick and simple, one-pack, patience or solitaire card game.

Agnes is a patience or solitaire card game that emerged in England about the same time as Klondike appeared in the US. The classic version has the unusual feature of packing in colour, a feature it shares with Whitehead. By contrast, the later American variant appears to have been influenced by Klondike with packing is in alternate colours. The classic game has been described as the best single-pack patience yet invented.

Tournament is a patience or solitaire card game which uses two decks of playing cards shuffled together. It is a variant of the much older game of Napoleon's Flank or Nivernaise and was first known as Maréchal Saxe.

Baroness is a patience or card solitaire that is played with a single deck of 52 playing cards. It is similar to other members of the Simple Addition family and is also distantly related to Aces Up.

Westcliff is the name of two closely related patience or card solitaire games of the simple packer type, both of which are played using a deck of 52 playing cards. One version is particularly easy to win, with odds of 9 in 10; the other is harder with odds closer to 1 in 4. The game has a variant, Easthaven.

Alhambra is a patience or card solitaire game played using two packs of playing cards. Its unusual feature is akin to that of Crazy Quilt: the cards in the reserve are built either on the foundations or onto a waste pile.

Nerts (US), or Racing Demon (UK), is a fast-paced multiplayer card game involving multiple decks of playing cards. It is often described as a competitive form of Patience or Solitaire. In the game, players or teams race to get rid of the cards in their "Nerts pile" by playing them in sequences from aces upwards, either into their personal area or in a communal central area. Each player or team uses their own deck of playing cards throughout the game.

Amazons is an old patience or card solitaire game which is played with a single deck of playing cards. The game is played with a Piquet pack minus the kings or a standard 52-card pack that has its twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes, and kings removed. This game is named after the female-led tribe, the Amazons, because the queen is the highest card, and all queens are displayed if the game is won.

Duchess of Luynes is a patience or card solitaire game played with two packs of playing cards. It is a member of the Sir Tommy family. A unique feature of this game is the building of the reserve, which is not used until the entire stock runs out.

Double Solitaire is a two-player variant on the best-known patience or solitaire card game called Klondike. While it is mostly referred to as Double Solitaire, it is sometimes called Double Klondike. Games with more players are also possible.

Patience (Europe), card solitaire or solitaire (US/Canada), is a genre of card games whose common feature is that the aim is to arrange the cards in some systematic order or, in a few cases, to pair them off in order to discard them. Most are intended for play by a single player, but there are also "excellent games of patience for two or more players".

Golf, also known as One Foundation, is a patience or solitaire card game where players try to earn the lowest number of points over the course of nine deals. It has a tableau of 35 face-up cards and a higher ratio of skill to luck than most other solitaire card games. Its easy game-play also makes it within easy reach of first-timers, while still offering scope for strategic play.

Travellers is a card game of the patience or card solitaire genre which uses a single card pack of either 52 or 32 playing cards. It is an interesting game based on "an entirely new principle" which Parlett describes as a "rhythmical feature that might be called 'shuttling'", as in the game of Weavers. It should not be confused with the twin-pack patience game, also called Travellers.

References

"Fun for Two". The New York Times. 1931-05-31. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-03-26.
Albert H. Morehead, Richard L. Frey, Geoffrey Mott-Smith: The New Complete Hoyle: the authoritative guide to the official rules of all popular games of skill and chance, New York: Doubleday, 1991, ISBN 0-385-24962-4
Jean Boussac. Encyclopedia of card games: The Crapette, pp. 313–315. Paris, 1896. Transl. from French, 2017.
David Parlett: A Dictionary of Card Games, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1992/96, ISBN 0-19-869173-4
David Parlett: The Oxford Guide to Card Games Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, 1990, ISBN 0-19-214165-1
Rules of Russian Bank, Pagat.com. Retrieved 2020-09-09.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] The Illustrated Book of Patience Games, Louis Hoffmann, 1892, pp. 117–118, no.61 "The Wrangle"]

[Foster1922-2] Foster, Robert Frederick (1922). Foster's Russian Bank: A Card Game for Two Players. Dutton.

[3] U.S. Playing Card Co. (1922). The Official Rules of Card Games: Hoyle Up-to-date. p. 199. Russian Bank (OR CRAPETTE) This game, which is sometimes called Double Solitaire, has lately come into great favor as being probably the best game for two players ever invented.; Wood, Clement; Goddard, Gloria (1940). The Complete Book of Games. Garden City. p. 242. RUSSIAN BANK or CRAPETTE This Double Patience or Double Solitaire is often regarded today as the most enjoyable game for two players ever invented.

[Pagat-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Rules of Russian Bank, Pagat.com. Retrieved 2020-09-09.

[5] "Spite and Malice" (p. 455ff) in The Penguin Book of Card Games by David Parlett, Treasure Press, 1987. ISBN 1-85051-221-3

[6] "Russian Bank" (p. 212) in Hoyle's Rules of Games (3rd edition) by Philip D. Morehead (ed.), 2001. ISBN 0-451-20484-0

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]