Rules of Russian Preferans (3) Classical

This is according to "Preferans: Rules and Variations (Преферанс: правила и разновидности)" supposedly  approved by General Meeting of Preferansists, Moscow State University in 1971, when the document itself recognised that Sochi was the most popular variant but it gave almost complete description of the classical preferans.

Seating

Who draws the highest card and is seated last shuffles the pack again and deal cards to each players, one at a time face up, starting from his/her neighbour to his/her left and clockwise. A player who gets the first ace becomes the first dealer, and final lap ends when deal would move to him/her.

Structure of a game

A game consists of two halves. The first half is "rogue" (razboynik), or compulsory hands and the second free. Two laps of all-pass hands are played in the half-time. At the end of the first half, a player with the largest points on his/her hill has the right to determine the stakes, size of the pool, and duration of the second half. The other players can advise him/her, but cannot dictate what he/she says. The stakes is expressed in amounts of money paid for a whist point. The pool cannot be larger than the smallest hill at the end of the first half. The time limit specifies when the final lap starts.

Dealer

Dealer moves after each hand except all-pass in the second half, when dealer stays up to three all-pass in a row, then it moves even in case of all-pass. Some let the staying dealer of three all-pass write up to ten points on his/her hill to offset his/her advantage during these hands.

Auction

There is an auction for the soloist in the second half of a game, and nominal one during the half-time where everyone passes. Either the eldest or second hand is designated as the soloist without bidding in the first half.

Misere is outbid by "nine in one (spades) hand." A hand bid is a bid to play a hand without using the widow. An outbid caller of misere can respond by calling "misere hand." Only "ten in one (spades) hand" can outbid "misere hand."

A player can bid blindly, that is, without looking at cards dealt, so long as no one has made a seeing bid in the same auction. For a seeing bit to outbid a blind one, it has to have larger number of tricks and an equal or higher suit. A bidder of a blind bid can remain in an auction after he/she is outbid by a seeing call, when he/she looks at his/her hand.

A player can also pass blindly if no one has bid seeing or blindly in the same auction. Minimum bid changes after a blind pass according to number of blind all-pass dealt by the same dealer immediately before the current hand. It is blind "one" (spades) or seeing "seven in one" (seven spades) if there were none, blind seven or seeing eight if one, and blind eight or seeing nine if two.

Soloist's declaration

If the soloist wins the auction with a "hand" bid, he/she does not exchange the widow with cards in his/her hand.

The soloist can refuse to take the widow after looking at them, leaving them face up on the table.

Misere can be named if the soloist wins the auction by a blind bid even if it is not misere. Some allow misere to be played even when the soloist called other bids, although this is very unusual.

In the first half of the game, by prior agreement by players, the eldest hand or the second hand is designated to be the soloist. He/she should name a game from his/her own list of games, each one only once, until there are none left. The games are six trick once, seven trick once, eight trick once, nine trick once, ten trick once, and misere once. Number of tricks is said before the widow is revealed, and a trump suit after discard.

The soloist can invite the dealer to share profit or losses equally in high risk hands like misere.

Partners' declarations

There are no requirements for games at ten tricks, that are played just like misere.

There is not "half- whist," but two passes are treated as if "pass"-"half-whist"-"pass" if the game is at six or seven tricks.

Players are always required to whist against a game of "one" (six spades), and games up to and including the same suit and one larger number of tricks than bid if a blind bid wins the auction.

In the first half of the game, by prior agreement by players, the first partner is required to whist and the second pass, or the both partners required to whist.

Play of cards

If the soloist is not the eldest hand and if the game is misere, at ten tricks, or open, the two partners lay their cards down face up, arranged in suits, before the opening lead. If the soloist is the eldest hand, this is done after the opening lead in case of misere and games at ten tricks, and before the game starts in the other open games.

All-pass is played with the widow.

Score-keeping

The game point is two if the game is at six tricks, four at seven, six at eight, eight at nine, and ten at ten or misere.

The points are doubled if the soloist has a simple bomb, quadrupled if he/she has a double bomb, and eight times higher if he/she has a tree. It is doubled again if the soloist won the auction by a blind bid. If he/she has more than one bombs, the oldest one is used. The used bomb disappears if the soloist was successful and remains if he/she failed.

The soloist writes a half of the game point in his/her pool and writes the same off from his/her hill if he/she played the hand successfully. He/she can choose to write the whole in the pool and leave the hill untouched as well.

If number of games played successfully in the second half exceeds those in the first half or all-pass, the soloist writes a half of the game point on his/her hill as if it were a result of a game in the first half that should have been played to satisfy the rule that number of successful games in the second half shall be within that of the compulsory hands or all-pass.

The soloist writes the game point for each undertrick on his/her hill, and each of the others including passing player and the sitting dealer write the same amount in his/her whist against the soloist if the game was not misere.

The whisting player writes the game point for each of his/her tricks. Tricks won by passing player belong to the whister. This was called ordinary whist in 1970's and is known greedy whist now. The  other options were gentlemen's whist and predatory whist. The gentlemen's is different from its moderm namesake. The whisting player alone writes his/her points and the others none even those for undertricks. In the predatory, everyone writes the same amount as the soloist.

The whisting player writes the game point for each of his/her tricks in short of his/her responsibility if the partners failed.

The widow is scored in four player games if the two cards contain quick trick(s) or the soloist refuses  to take them. The dealer writes in his/her whists against the soloist one trick for an Ace or a pair of King and Queen of one suit, two tricks for Ace and King of a suit, and three for two Aces. The dealer writes one trick on his/her hill if the soloist refuses to take the cards, leaving them on the table face up.

When his/her pool is full, the soloist writes remaining point to the largest pool with some room, unless it belong to the whisting player or the sitting dealer. When all pools are full, the soloist writes points of his/her successful game off from the hill, his/her own first, and other player's. When the soloist writes points in other player's pool or off from a hill of other player, he/she writes 10 times the points given in his/her whists against the recipient.

In all-pass, every player writes one point for each trick taken in his/her hill, and who did not take any one point off from his/her hill. The points are doubled or quadrupled in second or third all-pass of a staying dealer, respectively. They are doubled again when there is at least one blind pass. A player can write points from all-pass only in his own hill, therefore points that could have been written off disappears when his/her hill is empty.

If three players passed in the auction and at least one of them did so blindly, who called pass blindly writes a bomb in his/her pool and who did not a bomb one degree less than who did (none in case of simple bombs). The dealer, when four plays, gets the same bomb as the others if everyone passes blindly or as one who looked at one's hand otherwise. The type of bomb is a single, a double, or a triple bomb if it was the first, second or third blind all-pass in a row during staying deals of the current dealer, respectively. The sign for a simple bomb is a letter V upside down, a double bomb two of them stacked one upon another, a triple bomb or a tree three bombs stacked one upon another.

Irregularities

If the dealer mis-deals, he/she writes one point on his/her hill and deals again.

If the soloist forgets to discard two cards after taking the widow, he/she writes three undertricks and the hand is not considered as played.

If a player fails to follow the suit led or play a trump when he/she can, he/she writes three undertricks on the hill and the hand is not considered as played. If this happens in all-pass, the offending player is assumed to have taken ten tricks and the all-pass is considered to be played.

If a partner gives an advise to the other, he/she writes one point on his/her hill. If the dealer, when four play, gives an advise after looking at face down widow or the hand of one of the partners, he/she writes one point on his/her hill.

Other irregularities are handled as agreed by players. For example, it is considered an offence by authors of the reference document that the soloist names a game lower than obvious number of tricks in his/her hand, or that a partner gives away tricks to the soloist that are obviously his/her.

End of a game

A game ends when the dealer is about to move to the first dealer of the game after the final lap starts, or all pools are filled and the hills become empty, whichever the earlier.

Rules of Russian Preferans (2) Other Variants

Kazakhstan's

With greedy and responsible whists, slightly eased penalties against soloist and reduced points for all-pass, it is a mirror image of subtle Rostov, and seen as a very dynamic game.

The game points are quadruples of those of Sochi, a six-trick game is worth 8 points, seven 16, eight 24, nine 32, and ten and misere 40.

The pool is usually 120 points.

The soloist writes the game points in the pool for a successfully played game.

The soloist writes the game points for each undertrick on the hill if the game is not misere, and everyone else but a passing partner, but including the dealer of a four player game, writes the same amount in the whists against him/her as a prize. Some players do not score the undertrick prizes at all. The soloist writes the game points for each trick taken on the hill if the game is misere and the others score nothing.

The whister writes the game points for each trick taken by him/her in the whists against the soloist. Number of tricks includes the tricks taken by a passing partner. The whister does not share these points with the passing partner when the soloist fails (greedy whist).

When the partners fail to take required number of tricks, responsible whister writes the game points for each undertrick on the hill (responsible whist). Undertricks are counted against his/her personal quota and not the partnership one.

Some players use "over-greedy whist" where there are no shared responsibility of partners and only personal responsibility matters. Personal quota is 2 tricks in a six-trick game and 1 for seven- through nine-trick games. If two players whist, a whister pay penalties if he/she does not take personally required number of tricks, regardless of number of tricks taken by the partnership as a whole. If only one player whists, his/her quota is still the same as when two do, games are always played closed, and tricks taken by the passing partner do not belong to anyone. Some apply the "over-greedy" rule only when there are two whisters.

All-pass games are played without the widow, and a player taking the least number of tricks writes 10 points for each trick taken by an opponent in each of his/her whists against that player. If there are two such players, tricks taken by the other player is equally divided between them. One who does not take any tricks writes two points in the pool unless he/she is the dealer of a four player game who scores nothing. Some allows the dealer to write two points in the pool.

Some players exchange cards before all-pass games. The eldest hands add the two cards of the widow without showing them to his/her hand and discards two face down to form a new widow. The second and the youngest hand do the same in this order.

The minimum bid and points of all-pass games do not change. Some raise trick points of all-pass games like 10-20 or 10-20-30.

Pool points in excess of the pool size are treated just like in Sochi.

Finn's

A "racing" variant popular in Odessa, it is, unlike other conventions, more focused on getting pool points than not losing much in all-pass or failed games.

The pool is 40 points. Every player writes a half of that, 20 points, on his/her hill before starting.

Misere is overbid by 9 spades. "Misere hand" is not allowed.

There are prizes for quick tricks in the widow in four player games. Dealer writes in his/her whists against the soloist the following: one trick for an Ace or a pair of King and Queen of one suit, two tricks for a pair of Ace and King of one suit, and three tricks for two Aces.

Ten trick games are whisted with one trick quota. When two players whist against 8, 9 or 10 trick games, the second whister is responsible.

Whist-Pass-Half-whist is allowed.

The soloist writes the game points off from the hill and writes the same amount in the pool for a successfully played game.

The soloist writes twice the game points for each undertrick if the game is not misere, and everyone else, excluding passing partner but including dealer of a four player game, writes the same amount in the whists against him/her as a prize. The whisting partner records the prize that would belong to the passing partner in other variants as his/her, in addition to his/her own. The soloist writes twice the game points for each trick taken on the hill if the game is misere and the others score nothing.

The whister writes twice the game points for each trick taken by him/her in the whists against the soloist. The tricks include those taken by a passing partner. The whister does not share these points with the passing partner when the soloist fails (greedy whist).

When the partners fail to take required number of tricks, responsible whister writes twice the game points for each undertrick on the hill (responsible whist). Undertricks are counted against his/her personal quota and not the partnership one.

All-pass games are played with the widow, and each one writes two point on the hill for each trick taken. One who does not take any tricks writes two points in the pool if it is not full, in which case he/she writes two points off from the hill. The points are forfeited if the pool is full and the hill is empty. It is rare to increase minimum bid or points of all-pass tricks.

The first player to make his/her hill empty writes in each of his/her whists against the other players 60 points when four play, and 80 points in three player games.

The first player to fill his/her pool writes 120 points in each of his/her whists against the other players.

When a pool becomes full, points to be written there are written in pool with the smallest room. When a hill becomes empty, points to be written off from there are written off from the smallest hill. One who does so writes 10 times the points given in his/her whists against the recipient.

A game ends when a player fills his/her pool. A game can also be finished when everyone agrees. In that case pool size minus pool points are added to each player's hill before the calculation of outcome.

VMK or Seleznevka

VMK is a Russian acronym for Computer Mathematics and Cybernetics, a faculty of Moscow State University where this variant is said to have originated and remains popular. It is Sochi with some elements from Rostov and Piter.

Soloist can resign by writing three undertricks on the hill.

Whist-Pass-Half-whist is not allowed.

If two partners whist against 8 or 9 trick games, both are responsible and share hill points equally when they do not take any tricks.

10 trick games are checked and not whisted.

Two partners must whist against a game of 6 spades ("Stalingrad").

The soloist writes the game points in the pool for a successfully played game. He/she can also choose to write the points off from his/her hill if the game is not whisted.

The soloist writes the game points for each undertrick on the hill if the game is not misere, and everyone else including the passing partner and the dealer of a four player game writes 10 points for each undertrick of the soloist in the whists against him/her as a prize. The soloist writes the game points for each trick taken on the hill if the game is misere and the others score nothing.

The whister writes the game points for each trick taken by him/her in the whists against the soloist. Number of tricks includes the tricks taken by a passing partner. The whister does not share these points with the passing partner when the soloist fails (greedy whist).

When the partners fail to take required number of tricks, responsible whister writes the game points for each undertrick on the hill (responsible whist). Undertricks are counted against his/her personal quota and not the partnership one.

All-pass games are played with the widow, and each one normally writes two points on the hill for each trick taken. One who does not take any tricks writes one point in the pool.

After an all-pass game, the minimum biddable number of tricks is raised to 7 and points for all-pass games are doubled. A whisted and successfully played game brings this back to the normal -- six tricks and no doubles for all-pass.

Pool points in excess of the pool size are either treated just like in Sochi, or used to write points off from one's own hill. Soloist can freely choose between them.

Two-player game

There is always a dummy player to the left hand side of the dealer. The dummy is the eldest hand who always passes in bidding and whisting. Its hand remains hidden until a whister opens it. A whisting player can choose to whist alone against games at six or seven tricks, in which case the hand of the dummy is not used at all and the whister aims to take two tricks in a six-trick game and one in seven. Some do not allow this and allow "half-whist" instead. If a whister whists with the dummy, the hand is played just like open whists in three player games.

The widow and the hand of the dummy player is not used in all-pass games.

"Rogue (Razboynik)"

It is played on its own as a variation for two players, and less frequently by three or four players in contemporary games. It was also the first half of the "classical" preferans. There are no bidding and the second hand is always the soloist. When three or four players play, the designated soloist is either the eldest or the second hand, by prior agreement between players. The soloist has to name all the games from his/her own list of games, one game at a time and each game only once. The list of "small rogue" is 10 games of 6 spades, 6 clubs, 6 diamonds, 6 hearts, 6 no trump, any 7 trick once, any 8 trick once, any 9 trick once, any 10 trick once and misere once. The "large rogue" is 14 games of 6 spades, 6 clubs, 6 diamonds, 6 hearts, 6 no trump, 7 spades, 7 clubs, 7 diamonds, 7 hearts, 7 no trump, any 8 trick once, any 9 trick once, any 10 trick once, and misere once. The "extra large rogue" is 30 games of 6 to 10 trick games in 5 trumps and misere five times.

The soloist must name number of tricks and a trump before turning the widow up if it is a six-trick game in "small rogue", a six- or seven-trick game in "large rogue", or all the trick games in "extra large rogue". Misere must be named before the turning of the widow as usual. For the other trick games he/she names number of tricks before seeing the widow and a trump after that.

The opponent must whist with dummy and open hands in a two player game. When three or four play some say both partners must whist and some say the first partner whists and the second passes. The hands of the partners are open in both cases. Some allow closed whists.

A game ends when every player finishes playing all the games in his/her list.

Racing

A "racing" game is made of four rounds or as many rounds as number of players. In each round players aim to be the first one to fill the pool or one to have the smallest hill, each of whom receives large amount of bonus in his/her whists. The reward for filling the pool is larger than that for losing least, usually by one and a half.

The following is a rule for racing game based on Piter.

Minimum bid and points for all pass games go up as in the normal Piter, that is, 6, 7, 7, 7... and 2, 4, 6, 6, ...  A whisted and successfully played game brings back the normal state of six tricks and 2 points.

A round is 22 points or 17 points, that should be agreed upon before. If the limit is reached when minimum bid and points for all-pass games are raised, it is extended until an exit from the all-pass mode.

First dealer of a round is the left hand side neighbour of the first dealer of the previous round.

A first hand of a round is an all-pass.

Soloist cannot resign by writing three undertricks.

Players are forced to whist against 6 trick games ("Stalingrad").

10 trick games are whisted and not checked.

When two players whist against 8, 9 or 10 trick games, both are responsible.

When a game is not whisted and successful, the soloist can either write the points in the pool or write them off from the hill.

When a player including dealer in a four player game does not take any tricks in an all-pass game, he/she can either write the points in the pool or write them off from the hill.

If there's a failed misere, following hand is an all-pass without doubles (2 points) if the soloist won a trick, with doubled points if two, and with tripled points if three or more.

If there's a failed 9 or 10 trick game that overbid misere, following hand is an all-pass without doubled points if the soloist was in short of one trick, with doubled points if two, and with tripled points if three or more.

The first player to fill the pool in a round writes 300 points in each of his/her whists againts the other players. Player with the smallest hill at the end of a round writes 200 points similarly. The points are shared equally in case of a tie.

At the end of all rounds, one with highest total of pool receives 300 point bonus and smallest total hill 200, just like a round.

Important options

Because the rules have many options, important ones are summarised here.
 - Jump bids (to call bids higher than lowest ones the rules allow): allowed or not allowed
 - Exit from all-pass: 6 (not tightened); 6, 7, 7 (tightened); 6, 7, 8, 8 (hard)
 - Exit from all-pass when soloist fails, if the game played is misere, or if the game played is not whisted.
 - Misere: outbid by a 9 trick game; outbid by a 9 trick game which is outbid by misere hand which is outbid either a 9 trick hand or a 10 trick non-hand game by prior agreement by players.
 - Soloist's resignation (without 3 no whists): allowed or not allowed
 - Whist requires for 6 spades (Stalingrad): not allowed
 - Games at ten tricks: checked without whisting, or whisted with partners' quota of one trick
 - Whist-Pass-Half-whist in games at six- or seven-tricks: allowed or not allowed
 - Opening lead of soloist in open games other than misere: with open hands or closed hands
 - Opening lead of soloist in misere: with open hands or closed hands
 - Widow in all-pass: used like Sochi or not used like Rostov
 - Whist is greedy or gentlemen's
 - Whist is responsible or half-responsible
 - Responsible whister in eight to ten trick games if two whist: second whister or both
 - Trick points of all-pass (progressive or not): 1, 1, 1 (no progression); 1, 2, 2, 2; 1, 2, 3, 3 (arithmetic); 1, 2, 4, 4 (geometric). Doubled for Piter.

The Code of Preferans of 1996, as a tournament-oriented guideline, recommends the following.
 - Jump bids (to call bids higher than lowest ones the rules allow): not allowed
 - Exit from all-pass: 6
 - Various conditions for exit from all-pass: by agreement
 - Misere: misere, 9 spades
 - Soloist's resignation (without 3 no whists): not allowed
 - Whist requires for 6 spades (Stalingrad): not allowed
 - Games at ten tricks: whisted
 - Whist-Pass-Half-whist in games at six- or seven-tricks: by agreement
 - Opening lead of soloist in open games other than misere: with open hands
 - Opening lead of soloist in misere: with closed hands
 - Widow in all-pass (used or not): by agreement
 - Whist is greedy or gentlemen's: by agreement
 - Whist is responsible or half-responsible: by agreement
 - Responsible whister in eight to ten trick games if two whist: second whister
 - Trick points of all-pass (progressive or not): by agreement

Rules of Russian Preferans (1) General Rules and the Major Variants

Since there do not seem to be any descriptions of way-too-many variations in the game in English (it's a Russian game, anyway), I am tempted to roll my own...

Players and cards

Preferans (преферанс, sometimes préférence) is a game for three or four players. Dealer sits out in a hand he/she deals when four play. Everything in the game is done clockwise. A pack of 32 cards common in the continental Europe is used. There are eight cards in each of the four suits: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8 and 7 from high to low.

Seating

Each player draws or cuts a card. One who draws or cuts the lowest card picks a seat first, followed by the next lowest, and so on. An ace ranks low below 7 only in this case. Suits are compared when there is a tie. Order of the suits are hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades from high to low, the same as in the bid ladder.

Deal

Dealer of the first hand is chosen by any means. A player to the left of the dealer deals in the next hand. The dealer shuffles cards, and after having them cut by his/her right hand neighbour, deals ten cards to each player and a widow of two cards in a batch of two, starting from the player to his/her left. The widow can be dealt at any time so long as they are not the first or the last cards.

The dealer deals again in case of a misdeal. If it is a misdeal again, he/she writes one undertrick of a six-trick game on his/her hill and the next player deals.

Auction

Bidding starts from the eldest hand, that is the left hand neighbour of the dealer, and continues until only one player is left or all players pass. A bid is a combination of a trump suit and number of tricks to be taken, for example "6 (in) clubs". A bid with larger number of tricks outbids one with less, and among bids with same number of tricks, spades ranks lowest, followed by clubs, diamonds, hearts and no trump in this order from low to high. The suits are also known by their numbers: spades as one, clubs as two, diamonds as three, hearts as four, and, less often than the others, no trump as five. The lowest number of tricks one can bid is usually six, that is always omitted when suits are called by their numbers and often still when they are called by their names. Therefore, one can bid, from low to high: "(6) spades" or "one," "(6) clubs" or "two," "(6) diamonds" or "three," "(6) hearts" or "four," "(6) no trump," "7 spades" or "7 in one," "7 clubs" or "7 in two," ..., "10 hearts" or "10 in four," and "10 no trump."

When a player cannot make a bid, he/she says "pass" and drops out from the auction. Once a player passes, he/she may not bid again in that hand.

In order to remain in an auction, one has to make a next higher bid in the ladder if the previous bid was made by an elder hand, and repeat the last bid by a younger hand. Some allow bids higher than these, although it is advantageous to make lowest possible bid even in this case so that these two options are effectively the same.

Here are some examples of bidding:
 - A: Pass, B: Spades, C: Pass
 - A: Spades, B: Pass, C: Clubs, A: Clubs too, C: Diamonds, A: Pass.
 - A: Pass, B: One, C: Two, B: Also Two, C: Pass

One can also call misere, that is a bid to lose all ten tricks. It should be called at one's first chance in an auction. One who called anything cannot call it, and one who called misere cannot call anything else either. A bid of 9 spades overbids misere. Some allows a special bid of "misere hand" (misere without the widow) by a caller of misere when it's overbid. Some say that 10 spades overbids misere hand, others say that it is "9 spades hand."

When all three players pass, a game called "raspasovka" or "raspasy" in Russian, or "all-pass" is played. Some raise minimum bid, points of all-pass games, or both after an all-pass game ("St. Petersburg" convention).

Exchange of widow and soloist's declaration

The last player to remain in the auction becomes the soloist. The other two players try to spoil the soloist's game as temporary partners. The soloist turns the widow open for everyone to see, add them to his/her hand, and discards two cards face down. Then, if he/she did not bid misere, names a game he/she is going to play. It must be equal to or higher than his/her bid in the ladder. For example, if the soloist won an auction by "(6) diamonds", he/she can name 6 diamonds, 6 hearts, 6 no trump, or any games at 7 or higher but he/she cannot say 6 spades or 6 clubs. One cannot play misere unless he/she called it, and who called misere cannot play anything else.

Some players score points for quick tricks in the widow or for refusing it ("Rostov" convention).

Some allow the soloist to invite the dealer in high risk games like misere when four play. If dealer accepts the invitation, he/she shares profit or losses equally with the soloist.

Some players allow the soloist to resign without playing the hand after looking at the widow. He/she writes points for three undertricks, that are number of tricks in short of the stated goal, on the hill to do so.

Partners' declarations

Starting from the one sitting left to the soloist, the partners say "whist" if he/she is willing to take required number of tricks and "pass" otherwise. Whisting player(s) have to take 4 tricks if the game is at six, 2 tricks if seven, and 1 trick if it's eight or nine. There are no requirements for ten-trick games or misere. The partners do not say "whist" or "pass" in these games. They are played in special ways because there are no whisters. Some players set 1 trick requirement for games at ten tricks and play them like the others.

If two players whist, they try to take the required number of tricks together. When they fail to do so, one who failed to reach one half of the requirement is deemed responsible and scores penalty. When the requirement is one, some players make the second whister, or who said "whist" after, solely responsible; and some make both equally responsible and share penalty points equally.

If only one player whists and the other passes, tricks taken by the passing partner belong to the whister and he/she is solely responsible for taking the required number of tricks. The whister has an option of playing "up" or "closed", and "down" or "open". In a "closed" game, three players play holding their cards in their hands. In an "open" game, the partners reveal their hands face up on the table and the whister plays hands of the passing partner as well as his/her own.

If the two partners pass, the soloist is assumed to have won 10 tricks.

When a game is at six or seven tricks and the first partner passes, the second partner can say "half-whist" in addition to "whist" and "pass". When this occurs the first partner has to say if he/she whists or passes again. If he/she whists, the half-whisting player is assumed to have passed; if he/she passes, the half-whisting player is assumed to have won a half of the required number of tricks and the soloist the rest. When four play and there is a half-whist-pass, the dealer has a chance to say whist or pass after looking at the hand of one of the partners. Some allows the first partner to say "half-whist" after he/she said "whist" and the second partner said "pass".

When four play, a game is at eight or nine tricks (or ten if it is to be whisted), and the two partners pass, the dealer has a chance to say whist or pass after looking at the hand of one of the partners.

Play of the cards

If the game is to be played "open" or misere and the soloist is not the eldest hand, the two partners reveal their hands before the play of a hand begins. If the soloist *is* the eldest hand in an "open" game or misere, the partners reveal their hands before the opening lead if the game is not misere and after the opening lead in  misere. Some players choose different set of rules regarding when -- before or after the opening lead -- to open partners' hands if the soloist has the opening lead, for games other than misere and for misere.

In misere, the partners can take notes and discuss their moves. These actions are strictly forbidden in the other types of games.

If the game is at ten tricks and it does not require the partners to take a trick, the three players reveal their hands and play them to check if the soloist can lose some tricks, or it is played by the rules of misere, by prior agreement. There are nothing special in ten trick games if they are to be whisted.

The eldest hand leads a card to the first trick and the other players, in turn, must play a card of the suit led if he/she has one, or a card of the trump suit if he/she has one and does not have any card of the suit led, or any card otherwise. The highest card of the suit led wins a trick unless trumps are played, in which case the highest trump wins. The winner of a trick leads to the next trick.

Though not a rule, there is implicit assumption that the partners should cooperate, putting his/her own personal gains aside; he/she should not take a trick that is already his/her partner's, he/she leads low against the soloist and high against the other partner, shows his/her strong suit by first discard and weak one second, should not whist without a trick in hand but always whists with four trumps, and so on.

An all-pass game is played either with ("Sochi" or "St Petersburg" conventions) or without ("Rostov" convention) the widow, upon agreement. Players try to avoid taking tricks and there are no trumps. In an all-pass game with the widow, the first two tricks are led by turning the top card of the widow, and the eldest hand plays next. The third trick is led by the eldest hand. The fourth trick and onwards are led by the winner of previous trick. The widow just shows the suit of a trick and cannot win in three player games, while it can win tricks and belongs to the dealer when four play. An all-pass without the widow plays like the other games.

If a player failed to play a card of the suit led or trump when he/she can, there's no penalty if it is corrected within the same trick. If this is discovered in a later trick, the offending player gives at least one trick to the opponent. Any problems arising from the offence is solved to the detriment of the offending player. It is more usual to have the offender write three undertricks in his/her hill.

General rules of scoring

A score sheet is a rectangular piece of paper divided into four areas by two diagonals, with each area corresponding to a cardinal direction of a player. There's a small circle at the center, where pool size, stakes (per whist point) and other agreed upon terms are written down. A triangular area is further divided into three layers by two horizontal lines. The top section is called 'hill' and penalties are recorded. The middle one is called 'pool' and successful games are recorded. The bottom is called 'whists' and divided equally by vertical line(s) into number of other players, where tricks taken from him/her as a whister are recorded. Any points written are added to previous value. It is done by writing a new value after a previous one, separated by a period.

Size of the pool, that determines duration of a game, is usually 10, 20 or 30 points.

Game point of a six-trick game is 2, seven 4, eight 6, nine 8, and ten and misere 10.

The outcome of a game is calculated this way:
- Each player subtracts points of the smallest hill from his/her own hill, so that the smallest hill becomes zero.
- Each player multiply his/her hill by 10 and divide the result by number of players.
- Each player pay the resulting points to each opponents as points in the whists.
- The net score is (sum of points in one's own whists) minus (sum of points in the other players' whists against him/her).

Sochi's

Born in 1960's and had become the most popular form the game by early 1970's, it is regarded as the basic or the classical form of the game even today when Piter is by far the most played variant. It favours soloist more than Piter.

Some say that one must whist against a game of 6 spades. This is called "Stalingrad" because there is no way out, and some use it even when they are not playing Sochi.

The soloist writes the game points in the pool for a successfully played game.

The soloist writes the game points for each undertrick on the hill if the game is not misere, and everyone else including passing partner and the dealer of a four player game write the same amount in the whists against him/her as a prize. The soloist writes the game points for each trick taken on the hill if the game is misere and the others score nothing.

The whister writes the game points for each trick taken by him/her in the whists against the soloist. Number of tricks includes the tricks taken by a passing partner. The whister does not share these points with the passing partner when the soloist fails (greedy whist). Note that only whisting players score these points therefore no one writes them in misere or a 10 trick game without partners' responsibility.

When the partners fail to take required number of tricks, responsible whister writes the game points for each undertrick on the hill (responsible whist). Undertricks are counted against his/her personal quota and not the partnership one.

All-pass games are played with the widow, and each one writes one point on the hill for each trick taken. One who does not take any tricks writes one point in the pool. There is, or, was usually no increase in minimum bid or points for all-pass tricks after an all-pass hand. Some introduce Piter-like increase of points for all-pass, although the raised state usually ends automatically after playing fixed number of hands like three.

When the pool of a player becomes full, he/she writes points of his/her successful game in the pool of a player with smallest room, and 10 times the pool points given to him/her in his/her own whists against that player in return. When all the pools become full, remaining pool points are subtracted from player's own hill.

A game ends when every player's pool becomes full. A game can also be finished when everyone agrees. In that case pool size minus pool points are added to each player's hill before the calculation of outcome.

St Petersburg's (Piter)

Its distinctive feature is progressive all-pass and tightening of exit from that condition, that can result in big win and loss. Compared with Sochi, it also favours whisters who are more difficult to play well than soloist, therefore it is easier for beginners.

The soloist writes the game points in the pool for a successfully played game. Pool points are not doubled unlike the rest to make size of the pool consistent with other conventions, but it's doubled before the calculation of outcome.

The soloist writes twice the game points for each undertrick on the hill if the game is not misere, and everyone else including passing partner and the dealer of a four player game write the same amount in the whists against him/her as a prize. The soloist writes twice the game points for each trick taken on the hill if the game is misere and the others score nothing.

The whister writes twice the game points for each trick taken by him/her in the whists against the soloist. Number of tricks includes the tricks taken by a passing partner. The whister shares a half of these points with the passing partner when the soloist fails (gentlemen's whist).

When the partners fail to take required number of tricks, responsible whister writes the game points for each undertrick on the hill (half-responsible whist -- it is not doubled). Undertricks are counted against his/her personal quota and not the partnership one.

All-pass games are played with the widow, and under the normal conditions, each one writes two points on the hill for each trick taken. One who does not take any tricks writes one point in the pool.

After an all-pass game, the minimum biddable number of tricks is raised to 7 and points for all-pass games are doubled. A whisted and successfully played game brings this back to the normal -- six tricks and no doubles for all-pass.

If there is an all-pass game when the seven tricks and double rule is in effect, following games are played with the minimum bid of 7 and triple points for all-pass games in ordinary Piter. Some make it minimum of 8 and triple (hard Piter), and some 8 and quadruple. A whisted and successfully played game brings things normal again.

The game ends when the total points in the pools exceed the pool size times number of players, or agreed upon time passes. Pool points in excess of the pool size are doubled and subtracted from his/her hill, and pool points in short of the pool size are doubled and added to his/her hill before calculating the outcome.

Rostov's or Moscow's

Though much less number of games are played in some online gaming sites than the previous conventions, it is regarded as one of three major forms of the game along with Sochi and Piter. It has some distinctive features like rules and scoring of all-pass and heavy penalties for undertricks of soloists, and seen as a game for cautious and technical players.

Some score points for the widow. They counter-balance the chance factor of widow. Dealer of four player games or each partner of three player games writes the following points (in half in three player games) in his/her whists against the soloists if the widow contains: an Ace - 10 points, a King and a Queen of one suit - 10 points, an Ace and a King of one suit - 20 points, and two Aces - 30 points. Soloist writes 10 points in his/her whists against dealer in four player games and 5 against each partner when three play if he/she refuses to take the widow after turning them up and leaves them on the table.

The soloist writes game points in the pool for a successfully played game.

The soloist writes the game points for each undertrick on the hill if the game is not misere, and everyone else including a passing partner and the dealer of a four player game writes 10 points for each undertrick in the whists against him/her as a prize.  The soloist writes the game points for each trick taken on the hill if the game is misere and the others score nothing.

The whister writes the game points for each trick taken by him/her in the whists against the soloist. Number of tricks includes the tricks taken by a passing partner. The whister shares a half of these points with the passing partner when the soloist fails (gentlemen's whist).

When the partners fail to take required number of tricks, responsible whister writes a half of the game points for each undertrick on the hill (half-responsible whist). Undertricks are counted against his/her personal quota and not the partnership one.

All-pass games are played without the widow, and a player taking the least number of tricks writes 5 points for each trick taken by an opponent in each of his/her whists against that player. If there are two such players, tricks taken by the other player is equally divided between them. One who does not take any tricks writes one point in the pool unless he/she is the dealer of a four player game who scores nothing. Some allow the dealer to write one point in the pool.

The minimum bid and points of all-pass hands remain unchanged throughout the game.

Pool points in excess of the pool size are treated just like in Sochi.