Herzblatt

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Herzblatt
A point-trick game of the Ace-Ten family
Berlin pattern - Suit of Hearts - IMG 7606.jpg
Hearts: the permanent trump suit
OriginGermany
TypePoint-trick
FamilyAce-Ten games
Players2-5
Cards32
DeckFrench-suited cards
PlayAssumed clockwise
Card rank (highest first)A K Q J 10 – 7
Spades are permanent trumps

Herzblatt or Herz Sticht is a German card game of the Ace-Ten family for two to five players. It bears a certain resemblance to the extinct 19th-century game of Piquesept, however without the special rules associated with the trump Seven.

History and name[]

Herzblatt first appears in a German games compendium in 1966 and has been published sporadically since, both in print and online.[1][2][3][4] Herzblatt is German for "sweetheart", which is probably a play on words, since Herzblatt could also mean "Heart card" or "hand of Hearts". Herz Sticht literally means "Heart stings" or, in card-play, "Hearts trump". The game is unrelated to the similar-sounding games of Herzla and Herzeln.

Rules[]

The following rules are based on Braun (1966) except where stated. The aim of the game for the soloist is to score 66 points by winning tricks. The defenders' aim is to thwart this.[1]

Cards[]

The game uses a standard 32-card French-suited pack usually of the Berlin pattern. Cards rank in the usual Ace-Ten order and the suit of Hearts is always the trump suit, hence the name which means “heart card” or “heart hand”.

Players[]

Two to five players may play.[a] If two play, however, the Sevens, Eights and Nines are removed and each player receives 9 cards; 2 remaining in the skat (Stock, Skat, Blinden, Talon). If three play, all the Sevens are removed along with the ♥8 and ♦8, and each player receives 8 cards;[b] if four play, only the ♥8 and ♦8 are removed and each player receives 7 cards;[c] if five play, the full 32 cards are used and each player gets 6 cards. In every case, a skat of 2 cards is placed face down in the middle of the table.

Play[]

After the cards have been dealt, each player is asked in turn whether he wishes to become the soloist and plays against the others. If he does, he can say "(I'll play)" (ich spiele). Once the soloist is decided, he picks up the skat, adds it to his hand and discards 2 cards which count towards his score at the end. Forehand now leads to the first trick. Suit must be followed; a player unable to follow suit, must trump; only if unable to do either may a player discard. If a trump is led, subsequent players must overtrump if able.[d]

Scoring and settling[]

Players agree the stake to be played for at the start of the game. After the last trick has been taken, players tot up their points taken in tricks. If the soloist reaches 66 points (including any points in his two discards), he has won the deal. However, the sources describe different ways of settling the score. Braun and Lembke say that, if the soloist wins, he "takes the stake", but if he loses he pays double and, if he loses with 30 points or fewer,[e] he is schneider and pays three times the stake.[5][2] According to Feder, the soloist receives a single stake if he wins, but pays double if he loses. As a variant, he states that if the defenders score fewer than 33, they pay triple; if the soloist scores fewer than 33, he pays quadruple.[3] Finally, Reichelt clarifies that, in the event of a win, the soloist receives a single stake from each opponent, but pays each one the stake if he loses. However, the penalty for losing with 33 or fewer points is more severe: the soloist pays quadruple to each defender; if the defenders lose with 33 or fewer, they each pay a triple stake to the soloist.[4][f]

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ Reichelt: three to five players; Lembke: two to four.
  2. ^ Lembke: all the Sevens and Eights are removed with the exception of the two Hearts.
  3. ^ Lembke: four players receive 6 cards, so presumably the same cards are in play as for three players.
  4. ^ Lembke is alone in allowing players to trump or discard if unable to follow suit.
  5. ^ Usually the schneider threshold is half the points needed to win i.e. 33 in this case, as per Feder and Reichelt.
  6. ^ It is likely that in all cases the stake (or multiple stake) is paid by each defender to the soloist if he wins and by the soloist to each defender if he loses. However only Reichelt is explicit.

References[]

  1. ^ a b Braun 1966, pp. 94/95.
  2. ^ a b Lembke 1974, p. 203.
  3. ^ a b Feder 1980, p. 39.
  4. ^ a b Reichelt 1987, pp. 50–52.
  5. ^ Braun 1966, pp. 94–95.

Literature[]

  • Braun, Franz (1966). Spielkarten und Kartenspiele (in German). Hanover: Fackelträger.
  • Feder, Jan (1980). Die schönsten Kartenspiele (in German). Munich: Knaur.
  • Lembke, Robert (1974). Das Große Haus- und Familienbuch der Spiele (in German). Cologne: Lingen.
  • Reichelt, Hans (1987). Kartenspiele: von Baccara bis Whist (in German). Wiesbaden: Englisch.

External links[]

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