Kontra or Contra is a term used in certain
card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific.
Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ga ...
s of Central
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an origin that is called by players to raise the stakes. It is the equivalent of "double" in other games. The term comes from the Latin word, ''contra'', which means "against". In German there is also a verb, ''kontrieren'', which means "to double" or "to announce 'Kontra'".
Use in card games
Tarock
If a player is given the right to bid in
Tarock
Tarot games are card games played with tarot decks, that is, decks with numbered permanent trumps parallel to the suit cards. The games and decks which English-speakers call by the French name Tarot are called Tarocchi in the original Italian, ...
games, an opponent may announce ''Kontra'' if he thinks the soloist is unlikely to win. This doubles the value of the game.
If the soloist believes that he can still win the game, he may reply with ''Rekontra'' (or ''Re'' for short), which doubles the game value again.
In
Tarock
Tarot games are card games played with tarot decks, that is, decks with numbered permanent trumps parallel to the suit cards. The games and decks which English-speakers call by the French name Tarot are called Tarocchi in the original Italian, ...
, a further doubling is allowed by saying ''Subkontra'' (or ''Sub'' for short) or, occasionally ''Hirsch'' ("stag"), a joking reference to the German word, ''Re(h)'', which means "
doe", and results in the original game value increasing by a factor of 8.
Skat
Announcing ''Kontra'' in
Skat and ''Rekontra'' is very common, but is not part of the official rules. Players often say ''Supra'' instead of ''Subkontra''.
In many game rounds the stakes may be doubled again and the game value upped sixteenfold, but this is rather rare in practice. These announcements vary widely, for example, in some circles the announcement ''Hirsch'' follows ''Bock'' which is used to mean "Supra".
Doppelkopf
In
Doppelkopf
Doppelkopf (, lit. ''double-head''), sometimes abbreviated to Doko, is a trick-taking card game for four players. The origins of this game are not well known; it is only recorded from the early 20th century and it is assumed that it originated f ...
the side that has the Queen of Clubs announces a "double" with ''Re'', while their opponents say ''Kontra''. This makes it clear which side is bidding.
Schafkopf
In
Schafkopf
Schafkopf (), also called Bavarian Schafkopf, is a popular German trick-taking card game of the Ace-Ten family for four players that evolved, towards the end of the 19th century, from German Schafkopf. It is still very popular in Bavaria, where ...
, regional terms such as ''Spritz'' or ''Stoß'' are used to double the game as well as ''Contra'' (spelt that way). In response, the declarer or declaring team may says ''Re'' or ''Zurück'' to redouble. Further doubling of the stakes may be announced as follows:
[Peschel (1990), pp. 113–114.]
* ''Supra'', ''Sup'', ''nochmal drauf'' (x 8)
* ''Resupra'', ''Resup'', ''nochmal zurück'' (x 16)
* ''Bock'' (x 32)
* ''Hirsch'' (x 64)
Doubling is known as ''spritzen'' and redoubling as ''zurückspritzen''.
[
]
Klabberjass
Klabberjass
Klaberjass () or Bela is a trick-taking Ace-Ten card game that is most popular in German communities. In its basic form it is a 9-card trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card piquet pack.
As in other point-trick games of the King ...
is always played with ''Kontra'' and ''Re''. These must be announced before play to the first trick. Players may agree that ''Schenken'' is allowed whereby an opponent of the trump maker may offer to concede the game after the auction is over. The player's partner may, however, refuse.''Klabberjass''
at pagat.com Pagat.com is a website containing rules to hundreds of card games from all over the world. Maintained by John McLeod, it contains information for traditional, commercial, and newly invented card games from all over the world. It has been described ...
. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
Watten
In
Watten
Watten may refer to:
Places
* Watten, Nord, a commune in the Nord ''département'' of France
** ''Blockhaus d'Éperlecques'' or Watten bunker, intended to be a launching facility for the V-2 ballistic missile
* Watten, Highland, a village in Cai ...
, the term ''Kontra'' is not used, but a similar practice is very common. It is known as ''ausschaffen''. So the announcements, "you going?" (''"geht ihr?"'') or "three" (''"drei"'') raise the game value from the normal two points to three points. Other increments such as "four" or "five" may be announced alternately (until the number of points need for a win is reached, i.e. in the first game at a theoretical 15). However, the game value is not doubled each time.
Kontraschnapser
In the card game of
Bauernschnapsen
The card game of Bauernschnapsen (also called ''Viererschnapsen'') is an expanded form of the popular Austrian card game of Schnapsen, played by four players. This variant of Schnapsen is played throughout the whole of Austria.
General rules
Ba ...
there are special contracts of
Kontraschnapser and
Kontrabauer. Unlike other card games, ''Kontra'' in this case means that the opponents of the side that chose the
trumps, want to announced a contract with this trump suit.
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
* Peschel, Walter (1990). ''Bayerisch Schaffkopfen''. 2nd edn. Weilheim: Stöppel
External links
{{Wiktionary, de:Kontra
Card game terminology
Tarock card games