Jack–nine games
Jack–nine card games, also known as the Jass group from the German term for the jack, 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.
With the exception of the South Asian variants twenty-nine, twenty-eight and fifty-six, trick play in these games follows special rules that encourage trumping and overtrumping.
[2] Variants of the basic two-handed game, known under various names including Klaberjass and bela, are played worldwide, especially in Jewish communities.
[1]: 306 Four-handed belote with its numerous variants is the French national card game but has spread as far away as Saudi Arabia.
The Swiss games are special in that they are less restrictive than Whist, allowing players to trump a trick even when they can follow suit.
This family is popular in most of Europe, notable exceptions being the United Kingdom and Ireland, and Sweden and Norway.
According to David Parlett, this "popular and widespread two-hander has so many names, mostly variations on the same one, that it is hard to know which is best for universal recognition.
"[1]: 305 He lists the alternative names as "Clob, Clobby, Clobiosh, Klob, Kalabrisasz, Bela, Cinq Cents, Zensa".
[1]: 305 Other sources also list "Klabberjass, Senserln, Clobyosh, Kalabrias, Klab, Clabber, Clobber, Clubby".
Now players in turn get the chance to take the deal, i.e. bet to make more points than the opponent, with the preferred trump suit.
If both pass, they in turn may choose to take the deal with a freely chosen trump suit.
(For melding purposes the natural order of cards is used, and in particular tens rank between nines and jacks.)
A player who holds both king and queen of trumps may score 20 for the marriage (bela) when playing out the second of these cards.
The major distinguishing feature of Klaverjas is that it has replaced melds by similar combinations that can be scored in tricks.
A player who cannot follow suit must head the trick by trumping (or overtrumping) if possible, otherwise discard a non-trump, and may not undertrump if it can be avoided.
Otherwise all points made in the game, including for melding combinations on both sides, are scored for the opponents.
If all players pass, they in turn may choose to take the deal with a freely chosen trump suit.
Its distinguishing features are that all cards are distributed right from the start, and that players bid in terms of the number of points they expect to make.
[nb 2] If this happens the bidding phase is over immediately, except that a member of the partnership whose proposal is played may redouble.
However, if the contract was doubled or redoubled one partnership scores two or four times the total value of the game and the other nothing.
Jass games in this region are played with a pack of 36 cards which is most often French-suited, but in Liechtenstein, Vorarlberg and about half of the German-speaking part of Switzerland is characteristically Swiss- or German-suited.
Schieberjass is in many respects a Swiss version of Belote, and is probably the most popular form of Jass.
A player who holds king and queen of trumps can score 20 points when playing the second of these cards.
[1]: 308f The most fundamental differences to modern two-handed belote are tens ranking in their natural position, slightly different scoring values (more similar to manille and all fours), and more restrictive rules for trick-play (in the second phase).
The game continues with two trick-play phases, in which ranks and point values of cards are as shown in the table.
Independently of melding, a player who leads a king or queen of trumps and holds the other card, can score 20 points for marriage by showing it.
The game is played for 500 points; by melding this target can be met in a single deal.
