JASS
Game rules
The game Jass is popular in its native Switzerland as well as the rest of the Alemannic German-speaking area of Europe, Italian South Tyrol and in a few places in Wisconsin and Ohio, USA.
The most common variant of Jass is Schieber (in Vorarlberg also known as Krüzjass). It is often considered Switzerland's national card game.
Setup
For every type of Jass game 3 × 3 cards are dealt, i.e. each player receives 9 cards.
The total value of all counters in the deck is 152 for Differenzler, Schieber and Coiffeur. Taking the last trick scores an additional 5 points, which means there are a total of 157 points to be won.
Ranking and card values:
Trump: The suit declared trumps beats cards of all ranks in the minor suits. The ranking within the trump suit as well as the point values are shown in the adjoining table. A higher-ranked card beats a lower-ranked one.
- Jack = 20 points
- Nine = 14 points
- Ace = 11 points
- King = 4 points
- Queen = 3 points
- 10 = 10 points
- 8,7,6 = 0 points
Minor suit: The adjoining table shows the rankings within the minor suits as well as the point values. A higher-ranked card beats a lower-ranked one.
- Ace = 11 points
- King = 4 points
- Queen = 3 points
- Jack = 2 points
- 10 = 10 points
- 9,8,7,6 = 0 points
Tops-down and bottoms-up:
here is no trump suit in tops-down and bottoms-up. The adjoining table shows the ranking as well as the point values. In tops-down, Ace is highest. But in bottoms-up, Six is highest. A higher-ranked card also beats a lower-ranked card in both tops-down and bottoms-up.
Tops-down:
- Ace = 11 points
- King = 4 points
- Queen = 3 points
- Jack = 2 points
- 10 = 10 points
- 8 = 8 points
- 9,7,6 = 0 points
Bottoms-up:
- 6 = 11 points
- King = 4 points
- Queen = 3 points
- Jack = 2 points
- 10 = 10 points
- 9,7,Ace = 0 points
- 8 = 8 points
Difference Jass
At the beginning of every round, each player must predict the number of points he will achieve in that round. Declarations are “hidden”. Players know their own predictions only. The trump suit is picked randomly.
The difference between the number of points predicted and the actual number of points achieved is turned into difference points. The difference points from all the rounds of a match are added up for each player. The winner is the player with the lowest number of difference points over all the rounds of a match.
Rules: In Difference Jass, there are clear rules on when a particular suit may be played. Players are obliged to follow suit. This means that anyone holding a card of the suit led must play this suit (with the exception of the trump Jack/trump under).
- A player not holding a card of the suit led may play any card (playing a lower trump card is permitted in these circumstances).
- A trump may be played at any time instead of following suit.
- If a trump is led, the other players must also play trumps. Anyone holding the trump Jack/trump under and no other trump card may play any other card instead of the trump Jack/trump under.
Schieber Jass
Schieber is a partnership Jass game, with the two players sitting opposite each other forming a team. Both team members’ points are added together. The aim of Schieber is to reach a specific score (1000 or 2500 points) before the opposing team.
As soon as the cards have been dealt, the forehand (the player to the right of the dealer) must either choose the trump suit or pass. If he passes, his partner must nominate the trump suit. In each round any of the four trump suits, tops-down or bottoms-up can be chosen. A round begins once the forehand plays the first card
A match automatically finishes when a team reaches the target score. The deciding rule is known in Swiss German as Stöck, Wys, Stich, or marriages, melds, tricks. This rule is applied if both teams achieve the target score in the first trick of the final game at the same time and it determines which order the points are to be counted in.
Rules: In Differenzler Jass, there are clear rules on when a particular suit may be played.
- Anyone holding a card of the suit led must play this suit (with the exception of the trump Jack/trump Under).
- A player not holding a card of the suit led may play any card (a player can only play a lower trump card if he has nothing but trump cards left in his hand).
- A trump may be played at any time instead of following suit.
- If a trump is led, the other players must play trumps if they have any. Anyone holding the trump Jack/trump Under and no other trump card may play any other card instead of the trump Jack/trump Under.
Variations:
If the target score is set at 2500, Schieber is played with multipliers. This means that when playing with Roses/Hearts or Acorns/Diamonds as trump, points count once. If Shields/Spades or Bells/Clubs are chosen, all points count double. If tops-down or bottoms-up is chosen, all points count treble. But if the target score is set at 1000, all points always count once.
Melds, marriages and matches:
Additional points are awarded for melds, marriages and matches (any multipliers apply here too).
Meld points are won for a sequence of three or more cards of the same suit or for four identical cards. A marriage is a combination of King and Ober (Queen) in the trump suit. It is worth 20 points.
When the first card is played, each player has to decide if he wants to declare a meld. Only the holder of the best meld may score for it. The team with the highest individual meld will score for that team’s combined meld points. Where melds are equally high, the number of cards decides. If the number of cards is also identical, the holder of the meld in trumps wins, otherwise the forehand. Partner melds are also allowed.
Coiffeur Jass
Coiffeur is also a partnership Jass game, with the two players sitting opposite each other forming a team. The aim of Coiffeur is to play all trump options once and score as many points as possible. Only the points of the declaring team count. The team with the most points at the end of all the rounds wins.
A multiplier is allocated to each trump. At the end of each round, the number of points achieved are multiplied accordingly. This calls for foresight when planning the choice of trump. In 8-round Coiffeur, each team must play each trump suit, tops-down, bottoms-up, and two Jokers (free choice of trump option) once. In 10-round Coiffeur, one round of Slalom and one round of Guschti 5/4 are played in addition.
Slalom consists of playing tricks alternately tops-down and bottoms-up. In Slalom tops-down, the first trick is always played tops-down. In Slalom bottoms-up, the first trick is always played bottoms-up. In Guschti tops-down, the first five tricks are played tops-down, followed by four tricks bottoms-up, and in Guschti bottoms-up, the first five tricks are played bottoms-up, followed by four tricks tops-down.
Unlike in Schieber, a player does not pass to his partner, but to the player sitting next to him in an anticlockwise direction. If all players pass, the first player will be called on again to declare trumps. He can no longer pass and has to choose trumps. The player who nominates the trump option plays the first card. There are no melds in Coiffeur.
Rules: In Coiffeur, there are clear rules on when a particular suit may be played.
- Anyone holding a card of the suit led must play this suit (with the exception of the trump Jack/trump under).
- A player not holding a card of the suit led may play any card (a player can only play a lower trump card if he has only trump cards left in his hand).
- A trump may be played at any time instead of following suit.
- If a trump is led, the other players must play trumps if they have any. Anyone holding the trump Jack/trump under and no other trump card may play any other card instead of the trump Jack/trump under.