Trull (tarot)
A trull , derived from the French tous les trois (= all three), denotes the total of three special trumps in tarot variants in Austria and other countries , which have a much higher card value than the other trumps. The individual cards are therefore also referred to as trull pieces .
Despite the French root of the term, it is not used in the French tarot . Here the trull pieces are instead called les bouts ("tips") or, older, les oudlers , which has no other meaning.
introduction
The games of the Tarock family are primarily characterized by the fact that, in addition to the color cards, there is a series of classic 21 permanent trumps , which are usually numbered with Roman or Arabic numerals. In German-language variants, the trumps are also referred to as tarot . The special role of the fool is discussed below.
Tarot games are trick games in which the cards have point values in addition to their strength, which in German is often referred to as eye games . In most tarot variants, however, there is a complex scoring system with fractions (e.g. 4 1/3), which in the following is always rounded up to the next larger natural number .
The trull pieces
The following three cards form the trull:
Tarot I: the Pagat
Tarock I, the smallest trump, is traditionally referred to as Pagat . The name is derived from the Italian Bagatto , which has no other meaning, but is placed in a relationship with Bagatelle . The name should therefore allude to the status of the lowest trump card.
In French tarot the card is called le petit ("the little one").
Tarock XXI: the moon
Tarot XXI is traditionally the highest tarot. His name is a false German translation of French le monde or Italian il mondo . In those variants in which the Sküs has become the highest tarot, the moon is of course the second highest.
The fool or Sküs
The fool (Italian: il matto ) is often compared to the joker in younger card games. In modern tarot variants he is represented, for example, as a minstrel , harlequin or country driver.
Traditionally it is a special card that can be added to any stitch, bypassing the color requirement. He can neither win the trick nor be lost; if the trick is taken from the player with the highest card, the fool's player takes it to his own tricks instead. According to most, but not all, rules, he instead gives the winner a card from his own tricks that is as worthless as possible.
In the French tarot variants, the fool is traditionally played with a ritualized excuse, comparable to a tennis player commenting on a net scooter with "Sorry". That is why it is also called l'excuse there, which developed into the German name Sküs and further into dialect expressions such as Gstieß . Excuse is also the technical term for the role of the special card in English tarot literature.
In most of the tarot variants of the former Habsburg monarchy , the Sküs took on the role of the 22nd and highest trump instead, although its name was retained despite the new role.
Cross-variant meaning
The trull plays a special role in the rules of almost all tarot variants. The value of each of your cards (rounded up) is five points, while all other trumps (usually 19) count only one point. This applies regardless of whether the fool is the traditional special card or the highest trump card. Only in regional Italian variants can there be other trump cards that count more than one point. In some tarot games, such as the Rhaeto-Romanic Troccas , the trull has no meaning beyond its point value and possibly also no summarizing designation. In numerous others, however, she has many additional roles.
Meaning in individual tarot games
French tarot
In French tarot (3–5 players) the “tips” have a meaning that goes far beyond their nominal value. Because how many points a player needs to win the game depends on the number of points in his tricks. The cards are worth 91 points together, so the majority would be 46; but instead, a player only needs 41 to win the game if he has two points in the tricks and only 36 if he has all three. Conversely, with only one point you need 51 points, with none even 56 points.
The excuse plays its traditional role as a special card, with some additional rules. It can also be lost if it is played in the last trick; conversely, if a player has won all the tricks beforehand , he can exceptionally win the last trick.
Since the moon cannot be lost under any circumstances and neither can the excuse de facto, it is of the greatest importance in terms of tactics to play on bringing home or catching the petit.
There is also a bonus if the petit is played in the last trick for whichever side wins the trick. In contrast to the Austrian tarot variants, the petit does not have to prick itself, but can also be won by a partner.
King calls
In the Austrian Königufen (4 players) the trull pieces have several additional functions. The Sküs is the highest trump card.
Whoever has the complete trull in the end, receives an additional bonus in addition to the game. This can be announced beforehand and then counts twice. There is another bonus (which can also be announced) if the Pagat wins the last trick ( Pagat Ultimo ).
Not in all sets of rules, but often there is an additional bonus for catching the moon, i.e. when the moon is torn off by the Sküs. Whether this can be announced beforehand and whether it only counts among opponents, or also when the partner kicks off the moon, is regulated differently.
If the Kaiserstich or fairytale stitch has been agreed, the Pagat stings when the entire trull falls into one stitch.
In analogy to the trull, it is called a king strull when one side has all four kings in its tricks. Usually this counts as much as the trull.
Hungarian tarot
The trull pieces play the greatest role in the Hungarian tarot (4 players). It is only possible to bid with a trull piece, i.e. to compete with the game announcement. The Skíz , the fool, is the highest trump card. The three cards together are called trull , tuli , trúl or, according to the original French expression , tulétroá .
The game is primarily geared towards the award called Mondfang in Austrian tarot variants, i.e. to stab the opponent's trump XXI with the Skíz. Nevertheless, the name for this card has been lost in Hungarian, it is simply called huszonegy ("twenty-one"), and its catch is huszonegyfogás .
As in Königruf, it counts as a bonus and can be announced beforehand to have the trull in the tricks at the end. In the Hungarian tarot, however, it is customary to announce them only to indicate that the two "high" trull pieces are with the same party, which can make expensive additional announcements possible.
The pagát can be played as a bonus to win the last trick ( ultimo ), either announced beforehand or “quietly” at half the tariff.
- Illustrated Hungarian tarot
In the "illustrated" form of the Hungarian tarot, which has been expanded to include many announcements, further meanings of the trull pieces are added. The pagát can also be played in the penultimate trick ( uhu ); this must be announced beforehand if it is to count as a bonus.
There is also a special bonus for winning the first six tricks and the sixth with the XXI ( kismadár , "little bird"). Similarly, winning the first seven tricks, of which the seventh with the Skíz, is called nagymadár ("big bird"). These two must also be announced beforehand.
Cego
The Baden Cego does not know a comprehensive meaning of the Trull and therefore no name for it. The smallest trump card - which has numerous regional names such as the Little Man , Pagat , Babberle , Geiß or Pfeif - plays special roles. A special game called Ultimo can be auctioned, which is all about the Pagat winning the last trick. In the highest “normal” game with a talon, which is called the same as the card, the player undertakes to play the Pagat in the first trick, i.e. to leave this high value to the opponents.
In a local style of play known as the altar server version, all three trull pieces play an additional special role: In the Geregelten Räuber , in which everyone plays against each other for as few points as possible, the trull pieces must be played in the first three tricks: the thrust in the first, the moon in the second and the little man in the third. To comply with this rule, the obligation to operate can also be bypassed.