Einwerfen or Zählspiel is a German 8-card

point-trick game A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a ''hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such g ...

for four players in two teams of two and using a 32-card

German-suited pack German-suited playing cards are a very common style of traditional playing card used in many parts of Central Europe characterised by 32- or 36-card packs with the suits of Acorns (''Eichel'' or ''Kreuz''), Leaves (''Grün'', ''Blatt'', ''Laub ...

. Its closest relative is the popular Portuguese game Sueca. Perhaps the most basic and typical representative of the Ace-Ten card games, this game was first described as early as 1811, but may be considerably older.

Basic rules

Players draw for partnerships. The player drawing the highest card becomes the 'king' i.e.

eldest hand Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position. Position Games of Anglo-American origin In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...

; the player with the second highest is his partner. Partners sit opposite one another. The player drawing the lowest card sits to the right of the king and becomes the first dealer. 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 Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play. History Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' ...

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.Steiner-Welz (2004), p. 60. 61–90 card-points win the deal and earn one chip (''Marke'') or stake, a single win being known as a ''Lump'', 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 scores double i.e. 2 chips for a ''Lump'', 4 for a ''Matsch'' and 6 for a ''Bombe''.

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

''(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 lot.Von Thalberg (1860), pp. 145-147.

History and etymology

''Einwerfen'' refers to the 'throwing in' i.e. smearing of valuable cards 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 recorded in 1811. For this reason and because tens are still low in the game, card game researcher

David Parlett David Parlett (born 18 May 1939 in London) is a games scholar, historian, and translator from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. He is the president of the British Skat Association. His published works include many pop ...

speculates that it is much older. The name of the related Portuguese game Sueca means ''Swedish (woman)''.

Footnotes

References

Literature

* Steiner-Welz, (2004) . * Hammer, Paul (1811). ''Die deutschen Kartenspiele''. Weygand, Leipzig. * Hoffmann, Paul F. (1874)
"Das Einwerfen oder Zählspiel"
in ''Der Meister in allen Kartenspielen: eine praktische Anleitung zur schnellen Erlernung aller beliebten Kartenspiele'', Vienna. *. *. * von Thalberg, Baron F (1860). ''Der perfecte Kartenspieler oder practische Anleitung zur leichten Erlernung von 86 Kartenspiele'', S Mode, Berlin. {{Historical card games Card games introduced in the 1870s German card games Four-player card games French deck card games German deck card games Ace-Ten games Point-trick games