Chratze

Chratze is a card game that is mainly played in German-speaking Switzerland and thus optionally with French or German / German- Swiss Jass cards , and is one of the many variants of Jass. Theoretically 2 to 7 players can play, 4 to 5 players are optimal.

Basics

The game is played with a deck of 4 colors of 9 cards each (a total of 36 cards). Each player has four cards (where there is the possibility to swap) and must either 2 stitches ( " Chratze ") or one stitch ( " metcho " / " this ") make, or is out of the game ( " off " / " away ").

Give

The dealer is the dealer as long as nobody decides to play (scratch) the game; was scratched, the encoder changes counterclockwise. The dealer shuffles the cards and lets the player to his left cut. Then he distributes 2 cards to each player in a counter-clockwise direction, at the end also 2 to himself and reveals a third card on the table for everyone to see. This third card indicates the trump suit . Then each player receives 2 cards again, so that each player holds 4 cards in their hand. The remaining cards are placed in a pile next to the face up trump card - they will be used later to swap cards.

Chratze, metcho, gone

It is the turn of the first player after the dealer to make announcements. There are two options:

• " Chratze " or
• " away " / " away ".

" Chratze " means that the player two stitches make must, " off " means that it provisionally adopted from the game. The round continues counterclockwise until someone scratches. If nobody scratches (they are all "gone") and the round has reached the dealer again (who also does not scratch), the dealer reveals a new card that is trump . If no one turns up with the third trump card, the dealer shuffles and distributes the cards again (each player has to make another basic bet - see pot below). This repeats itself until someone scratches it.

If someone chats, the round starts again for him (all other players are asked again, even if they have already said away). Now there are only the options:

• " metcho " / " here " (come along) or
• " away " / " away ".

Whoever comes along, it must achieve a stab who is gone, does not play with (in this round who " away said," is " off " - there are always players who are after all the others are "gone" too, but still want to play). So there can only be someone scratching each round. Can come along any number of players, of course, the risk of his stitches can not be achieved, increases with each additional Mitkommenden.

Swap cards

Those players who remain in the game (i.e. the scratcher and those who come along) have the opportunity to exchange cards before the start of the game (for the stick that is with the dealer). The end of the game first puts down the number of cards that he would like to have exchanged, then all those coming counter-clockwise. If you swap all 4 cards, you get 5 new ones, but must discard one of the five face down before the game starts (this card is therefore out of the game). With the trump card 6, the trump card revealed by the dealer can also be exchanged. This is preferably done before the start of the game, but after the cards have been exchanged so as not to reveal too much information to the opponents before they exchange cards.

Style of play

Ace is the highest card, 6 the lowest. The color revealed by the dealer is trump - this color trumps all other colors. In contrast to a trump in the Swiss slider (see Jass ), the order in the trump suit is from ace down. The Chratzende opens the game. Color must always be played (added, also confessed ), so it is not possible to take a trick as long as you still have this color. If a player does not have a card of the suit led (any more), trump must be played (even if this means that one has to "undertrump").

pot

The game is played for a pot . In each round, each player pays a constant amount (e.g. 20 cents ), which means that if there are 5 players there is 1 franc before the game begins . This pot is played for. If a player is "gone", he has no opportunity to win back his basic stake in this round. The "Chratzende" has to take 2 tricks - if he does not do this, he pays double the pot and the basic stake for the next round into the pot (in this example 2.20 francs). If he gets his 2 tricks, he receives 2/3 of the pot, the remaining 1/3 goes to those who came along who took their trick. Those who came along who didn't get their trick pay in the simple pot plus the basic stake (here 1.20 francs). If only one player gets his tricks, he takes the whole pot. If the player does not reach his tricks, the pot is divided equally among those who have come along who have taken their tricks. If the pot is distributed unevenly, it is "always" rounded up to 20 cents in favor of the Chratzende. The pot is paid out first, then those players who have not taken their tricks pay in the amount owed (and the other players the stake).

"Blind" scratching

Blind (blind) and blind blind (blind blind) can only be announced by the giver. Both terms mean that the giver scratches, which means that the other players only have the choice between metcho and away. Since both are announced while the cards are being dealt, the other players have no way of scratching (which would be the only cases where the dealer is not at the very end with announcements).

A " blind " is announced by the dealer after revealing the trump card but before looking at his own 4 cards. The giver scratches blindly, but receives the face-up trump card (this cannot be taken from him with the trump 6). A blind is especially useful when there is an ace, as you already have a sure trick.

A " blind blind " must be announced before the trump card is revealed. The giver receives the face up trump card and a third with the last 2 cards. Again, the trump card cannot be taken away from him with the 6 trump card. A blind blind person does not really make sense, it rather proves the willingness of the giver to take risks.

If the cards are exchanged, you can only top up to 4 cards. Unless the player puts down all of them, he gets 5 (so if the blind person puts down 6 cards, he still gets only 5 - or if he puts down 4 of his 6 cards, he only gets 2 new cards).

strategy

Even without 2 sure stitches in hand, you can (and will) scratch, as there is still the option of exchanging cards. Whether you scratch depends on various factors, such as: B. the quality of the hand, the size of the pot, and when it is a player's turn to give announcements ("chratze", "weg"). As the last, it is easier to say because you already know whether the other players want to scratch themselves.

From the point of view of the Chratzende

Even if you don't have 2 sure tricks, you can get 2 tricks. It is popular not to start the game with a trump if the cards are uncertain , in the hope that the other players do not have this color and thus lose a trump. If a fellow player has truncated the first trick with trumps, the end of the game tries to take the game back with a low trump in order to then take his second trick with his high trump card.

From the perspective of the fellow

Even with only one lower trump card you can come along, as additional trumps could be added when you swap cards. Aces are usually kept by other suits in the hope that that suit will be alluded to.

Susi rule

This additional rule tries to prevent nobody from coming along, although someone is scratching, and thus the whole pot goes to the scratching end without a fight, which means that the next round is only contested with basic stakes. If no one comes along, it is the last player in the round to "sacrifice" himself. If he does not do this, he may be insulted as "Susi" by the other players.

various

Chratzen seems to be similar to the Bavarian card game " Zwicken ".

To make the division of the pot a bit easier, the program 'iChratze' can be used at the same time (freeware). Download from: www.kronenberg.aero/it

credentials

1. ↑ Adulf Peter Goop Jassen p. 16 (accessed: February 11, 2012; PDF file; 25.61 MB)