Mariage (card game)
Encyclopedia
or Mariagespiel 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. Many of these are still the national card games of their respective countries.
The King–Queen card games, also known as the marriage group, are a family of point-trick games of which the Mariagenspiel is the earliest and most typical representative. Games in this family are typically played by 2–4 players using a pack of 20–40 cards, with aces and tens scoring 11 and 10 points in tricks, respectively, and marriages scoring 40 points in trumps and 20 points in a plain suit.
An elaborated form of Mariagenspiel known under various names including Klaberjass
was especially popular among Jewish communities and spread worldwide. Its offshoots form the Jass group Jack–Nine card games
, characterized by the fact that the Jack and Nine of the trump suit are the highest trumps.
According to David Parlett
, the modern German/Austrian Mariagenspiel variant 66 or Schnapsen
, which remains close to the original, is "one of the best two-handers ever devised". The "marriage" theme seems to have originated in France in the context of unrelated card games. Two-handed Schnapsen and three-handed Mariáš
and Ulti
are the most popular card game in the area of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire
. Klaberjass
, first documented in the Low Countries
as a Jewish game, developed into Dutch Klaverjas
, Swiss Jass
and French Belote
. Bezique
and its variants Binokel and Pinochle
are further examples of popular games in the King–Queen or marriage family.
As Mariagenspiel (German for game, using the original French
word for marriage rather than the German word, Heiraten), the game was first described in a 1715 ladies' encyclopedia printed in Leipzig
. The game's entry said that the game was popular among ladies, and the entry for playing card listed first among nine card games played with the German pack. Despite the marriage theme, the Queen was replaced by the equivalent male character in the German cards. Apart from the standard Queen/Ober, Jack/Unter translation, the game described was precisely as follows.
Mariagenspiel is played by two players, each of whom receives a hand of 6 cards. The thirteenth card is turned face-up for trumps and can be robbed with the seven of trumps. While the stock lasts, after each trick players fill up their hands. As soon as the stock is depleted, players must follow suit.
A of King and Queen of the same suit is worth 20 points, or 40 points in trumps. The winner of the last trick receives 10 points. Players must not announce or score a before they have won at least one trick.
The rules mention that some play a variant in which the bonus points for marriages are replaced by side-payments, so that there are always 130 points in a deal.
A number of ambiguities in this description correspond to variations in the game's offshoots. The number of cards is not specified (although from the entry for playing card it follows that it was most likely 32), and in the modern games it is typically 20, 24 or 32. It is not specified when and how a is announced. In some modern games, players can announce a from their hands at any time, or only after winning a trick. In others a occurs when King and Queen fall into the same trick. In the second phase of the game players must follow suit, but it is not specified whether they must win the trick if possible, or whether they must trump if they cannot follow suit. All these variations exist in modern offshoots of the game.
The rules do not specify whether tens rank high (between ace and king) or low (between Jack and nine). As late as in the 1820 re-edition of the Berlin Spielalmanach one finds the comment that Mariagenspiel is the only game in which tens rank high. (The previous edition had not included the game.) Contemporary readers of the 1715 rules would have interpreted them as tens being low. On the other hand, around the same time the related French game Brusquembille
was already described with tens ranking high.
Two players play with a 32-card piquet pack. Each receives a hand of 6 cards in batches of 2 or 3. The thirteenth card is turned up for trumps. The game has two phases. In the first phase players fill up their hands from the stock after playing to tricks. The second phase begins when the stock is empty. Tens are high in trick-play.
Eldest hand leads any card to the first trick, and the other player plays any card to the trick. The trick is won by the highest trump, or by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of the trick draws a card, followed by the other player, then leads any card to the next trick.
A player who holds King and Queen of the same suit can meld a , i.e. show them and score 20 points, or 40 points if it is in trumps. The lowest trump may rob the turn-up card, i.e. the player who holds the seven of trumps may exchange it with the turn-up card so long as that has not been drawn.
Melding is only allowed after winning the first trick and before anyone has played to the first trick of the last phase. Melds can be held back until later to withhold information from the opponent, but they can only be made while the player still holds both cards.
The game is won by the player who has more card-points than the other player. A game in which the loser is strictly below 33 points counts double for match. A tied game is held in abeyance; it is decided by the outcome of the next game.
) as a standard element of the game. This does not appear in the earliest published rules, though, and the later rules are very sketchy about the details of winning and scoring.
In the first phase a player may have cards good enough to win the game even without drawing further cards. To abbreviate the game and increase the odds of making match (keeping the opponent below 33 points), the player can close the stock.
A player closes the stock by putting the turn-up card crosswise on top of the stock. The opponent may immediately make any undeclared melds he or she still holds. After this, the second phase starts.
It is implicit in the 19th century rules that it is not sufficient that the player who closes the stock win more points than his or her opponent. In fact, the rules states explicitly that if the player fails to win, the opponent wins even though he or she may have less points. However, they do not state the precise winning condition.
For three players, 19th century German anthologies recommend playing the basic two-player game with one player pausing, but briefly describe a 5-card variant for three in which all players play separately. The game is won by the player who wins the greatest number of points.
Several modern games such as Mariáš, Tysiąc and Ulti
are best understood as three-handed -based solo games.
The family contains the closely related French (Belote
, Belote contrée) and Dutch (Klaverjas
) national card games. The Swiss national card game (Jass
) is also a close relative but features a number of peculiarities, has spawned numerous variants, and is played with 36 cards. The popular South Asian card games Twenty-eight
and Twenty-nine are derivatives of this family and share many of its characteristics.
The earliest known games of this family were two-handed. Variants are still played worldwide. (The name for essentially the same game varies, e.g. Klaberjas, Clob, Bela.)
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
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
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, spawned numerous offshoots throughout continental Europe. Many of these are still the national card games of their respective countries.
The King–Queen card games, also known as the marriage group, are a family of point-trick games of which the Mariagenspiel is the earliest and most typical representative. Games in this family are typically played by 2–4 players using a pack of 20–40 cards, with aces and tens scoring 11 and 10 points in tricks, respectively, and marriages scoring 40 points in trumps and 20 points in a plain suit.
An elaborated form of Mariagenspiel known under various names including Klaberjass
Klaberjass
Klaberjass or Bela is a widespread international trick-taking card game that is most popular in Jewish communities. In its basic form it is a 6-card trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card piquet pack....
was especially popular among Jewish communities and spread worldwide. Its offshoots form the Jass group Jack–Nine card games
Jack–Nine card games
The Jack-Nine card games, also known as the Jass group, form a family of trick-taking games in which the jack and nine of the trump suit are the highest-ranking trumps, and the tens and aces of all suits are the next most valuable cards...
, characterized by the fact that the Jack and Nine of the trump suit are the highest trumps.
According to David Parlett
David Parlett
David Parlett is a games scholar from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. His published works include many popular books on games and the more academic volumes "Oxford Guide to Card Games" and "Oxford History of Board Games", both now out of print...
, the modern German/Austrian Mariagenspiel variant 66 or Schnapsen
Sixty-six (card game)
Sixty-six or Schnapsen is a fast 5- or 6-card point-trick game of the marriage type for 2–4 players, played with 20 or 24 cards. First recorded in 1718 under the name Mariagen-Spiel, it is the national card game of Austria and also popular in Germany and Hungary.Closely related games for various...
, which remains close to the original, is "one of the best two-handers ever devised". The "marriage" theme seems to have originated in France in the context of unrelated card games. Two-handed Schnapsen and three-handed Mariáš
Mariáš (card game)
Mariáš is a three-player solo trick-taking game of the King–Queen family, buth with a simplified scoring system. It is one of the most popular card games in the Czech Republic and Slovakia...
and Ulti
Ulti
Ulti or Ultimó, is Hungary's national trick-taking card game for three players. Though virtually unknown outside its home borders, Ulti is well worth exploring, as it offers some unusual and intriguing features.-History:...
are the most popular card game in the area of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. Klaberjass
Klaberjass
Klaberjass or Bela is a widespread international trick-taking card game that is most popular in Jewish communities. In its basic form it is a 6-card trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card piquet pack....
, first documented in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
as a Jewish game, developed into Dutch Klaverjas
Klaverjas
Klaverjas, or Klaverjassen, is the Dutch name for a four player trick-taking card game using the piquet deck of playing cards. It is closely related to the Hungarian/Romanian card game klaberjass, also known as Kalabriasz, Klobiash, Clobiosh, and other similar spellings...
, Swiss Jass
Jass
Jass is a trick taking card game and a distinctive branch of the Marriage family, popularly supposed to be the progenitor of the American game of Pinochle...
and French Belote
Belote
Belote is a 32-card trick-taking game played in France, and is currently one of the most popular card games in that country. It was invented around 1920, probably from Klaverjas, Klaverjassen, a game played since at least the 17th century in the Netherlands...
. Bezique
Bezique
Bezique is a 19th-century French melding and trick-taking card game for two players derived from Marriage via Briscan by the addition of more scoring features, notably the peculiar liaison of Q and J, under the names Bésigue, Binokel, Pinochle, etc., according to the country.-History:Bezique was...
and its variants Binokel and Pinochle
Pinochle
Pinochle or Binocle is a trick-taking game typically for two to four players and played with a 48 card deck. Derived from the card game bezique, players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of cards into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category...
are further examples of popular games in the King–Queen or marriage family.
Earliest known rules
| Rank | A | K | Q | J | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 11 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 10 | – | ||
As Mariagenspiel (German for game, using the original French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
word for marriage rather than the German word, Heiraten), the game was first described in a 1715 ladies' encyclopedia printed in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. The game's entry said that the game was popular among ladies, and the entry for playing card listed first among nine card games played with the German pack. Despite the marriage theme, the Queen was replaced by the equivalent male character in the German cards. Apart from the standard Queen/Ober, Jack/Unter translation, the game described was precisely as follows.
Mariagenspiel is played by two players, each of whom receives a hand of 6 cards. The thirteenth card is turned face-up for trumps and can be robbed with the seven of trumps. While the stock lasts, after each trick players fill up their hands. As soon as the stock is depleted, players must follow suit.
A of King and Queen of the same suit is worth 20 points, or 40 points in trumps. The winner of the last trick receives 10 points. Players must not announce or score a before they have won at least one trick.
The rules mention that some play a variant in which the bonus points for marriages are replaced by side-payments, so that there are always 130 points in a deal.
A number of ambiguities in this description correspond to variations in the game's offshoots. The number of cards is not specified (although from the entry for playing card it follows that it was most likely 32), and in the modern games it is typically 20, 24 or 32. It is not specified when and how a is announced. In some modern games, players can announce a from their hands at any time, or only after winning a trick. In others a occurs when King and Queen fall into the same trick. In the second phase of the game players must follow suit, but it is not specified whether they must win the trick if possible, or whether they must trump if they cannot follow suit. All these variations exist in modern offshoots of the game.
The rules do not specify whether tens rank high (between ace and king) or low (between Jack and nine). As late as in the 1820 re-edition of the Berlin Spielalmanach one finds the comment that Mariagenspiel is the only game in which tens rank high. (The previous edition had not included the game.) Contemporary readers of the 1715 rules would have interpreted them as tens being low. On the other hand, around the same time the related French game Brusquembille
Brusquembille
Brusquembille is a historical French 3-card trick-and-draw game for two to five players using a 32-card piquet pack. The game has random trumps. Side-payments are made for keeping or winning aces and tens....
was already described with tens ranking high.
First phase
| Rank | A | 10 | K | Q | J | 9 | 8 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 11 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – | ||
Two players play with a 32-card piquet pack. Each receives a hand of 6 cards in batches of 2 or 3. The thirteenth card is turned up for trumps. The game has two phases. In the first phase players fill up their hands from the stock after playing to tricks. The second phase begins when the stock is empty. Tens are high in trick-play.
Eldest hand leads any card to the first trick, and the other player plays any card to the trick. The trick is won by the highest trump, or by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of the trick draws a card, followed by the other player, then leads any card to the next trick.
A player who holds King and Queen of the same suit can meld a , i.e. show them and score 20 points, or 40 points if it is in trumps. The lowest trump may rob the turn-up card, i.e. the player who holds the seven of trumps may exchange it with the turn-up card so long as that has not been drawn.
Melding is only allowed after winning the first trick and before anyone has played to the first trick of the last phase. Melds can be held back until later to withhold information from the opponent, but they can only be made while the player still holds both cards.
Second phase
In trick-play, players must follow suit if possible, and otherwise play a trump if possible. After a trick has been played, players do not draw cards. The last trick is worth 10 points, or 30 points for washing the opponent in case a player wins all tricks in the second phase.The game is won by the player who has more card-points than the other player. A game in which the loser is strictly below 33 points counts double for match. A tied game is held in abeyance; it is decided by the outcome of the next game.
Closing the stock
19th century game anthologies describe closing the stock (as in the later Sixty-sixSixty-six (card game)
Sixty-six or Schnapsen is a fast 5- or 6-card point-trick game of the marriage type for 2–4 players, played with 20 or 24 cards. First recorded in 1718 under the name Mariagen-Spiel, it is the national card game of Austria and also popular in Germany and Hungary.Closely related games for various...
) as a standard element of the game. This does not appear in the earliest published rules, though, and the later rules are very sketchy about the details of winning and scoring.
In the first phase a player may have cards good enough to win the game even without drawing further cards. To abbreviate the game and increase the odds of making match (keeping the opponent below 33 points), the player can close the stock.
A player closes the stock by putting the turn-up card crosswise on top of the stock. The opponent may immediately make any undeclared melds he or she still holds. After this, the second phase starts.
It is implicit in the 19th century rules that it is not sufficient that the player who closes the stock win more points than his or her opponent. In fact, the rules states explicitly that if the player fails to win, the opponent wins even though he or she may have less points. However, they do not state the precise winning condition.
Variations
- So long as no mariage has been melded, a player may meld l'amour, consisting of Ace and King of trumps. Like a mariage in trumps, l'amour scores 40 points. Mariage in trumps can still be melded afterwards. A player who melds mariage must kiss the opponent, provided the opponent is of the opposite sex.
- A player who holds Ace and King of the same suit can meld l'amour and score 30 points, or 60 points in trumps.
- Melding is only allowed after winning a trick and before playing out.
- For a mariage to be valid, it is sufficient to play its first card to a trick led by the opposing player and win one's first trick with it. This does not apply to l'amour.
- A player must not rob the turn-up card with the trump seven before winning his or her first trick, except when the turn-up card is the Ace of trumps.
- There is no turn-up card, and initially there is no trump suit. The first determines trumps and is worth 40 points. If both players want to meld the first at the same tame, eldest hand comes first. can be melded even without having any tricks.
- The 20 bonus points for washing the opponent are only paid if the intent has been declared before the last two cards were drawn from the stock. Declaring a washing but failing to do it costs 20 points but does not necessarily lose the game.
- Instead of bonus points for melds and washing, side-payments are made.
Adaptations to three players
| Game | pack | hand | widow | stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mariagespiel (1820) | 36 | 5 | – | 21 |
| Mariáš, Ulti | 32 | 10 | 2 | – |
| Tysiąc | 24 | 8 | – | – |
| 1001 | 24 | 8 | 3 | – |
Several modern games such as Mariáš, Tysiąc and Ulti
Ulti
Ulti or Ultimó, is Hungary's national trick-taking card game for three players. Though virtually unknown outside its home borders, Ulti is well worth exploring, as it offers some unusual and intriguing features.-History:...
are best understood as three-handed -based solo games.
Jack–Nine games
In this subfamily the Jack ("jass") and Nine ("nell") of the trump suit are the highest trumps. Games in this family are typically played by four players with the 32 French-suited cards of a piquet pack.The family contains the closely related French (Belote
Belote
Belote is a 32-card trick-taking game played in France, and is currently one of the most popular card games in that country. It was invented around 1920, probably from Klaverjas, Klaverjassen, a game played since at least the 17th century in the Netherlands...
, Belote contrée) and Dutch (Klaverjas
Klaverjas
Klaverjas, or Klaverjassen, is the Dutch name for a four player trick-taking card game using the piquet deck of playing cards. It is closely related to the Hungarian/Romanian card game klaberjass, also known as Kalabriasz, Klobiash, Clobiosh, and other similar spellings...
) national card games. The Swiss national card game (Jass
Jass
Jass is a trick taking card game and a distinctive branch of the Marriage family, popularly supposed to be the progenitor of the American game of Pinochle...
) is also a close relative but features a number of peculiarities, has spawned numerous variants, and is played with 36 cards. The popular South Asian card games Twenty-eight
Twenty-eight (card game)
This is one of a group of Indian trick-taking card games in which the Jack and the Nine are the highest cards in every suit.-Players and cards:28 is usually played by four players in fixed partnerships, partners facing each other. 32 cards from a standard 52-card pack are used for play. There are...
and Twenty-nine are derivatives of this family and share many of its characteristics.
The earliest known games of this family were two-handed. Variants are still played worldwide. (The name for essentially the same game varies, e.g. Klaberjas, Clob, Bela.)