Klammern is an ace–ten card game and variant of Jass, which is particularly widespread in the Alemannic region.
It is played mainly in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and in parts of southern Germany and Alsace.
But the game is also finding more and more fans in the north-west of Germany, mainly in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In Hamburg the game goes under the name Klapperjazz or Klapperjass and was initially played mainly by stevedores for "nen Heiermann", a 5 Mark piece.
In other parts of North Germany it is called Klappern or Klapper-Jas and was popular in the 1950s and 60s in pubs and bars and also among lorry drivers as they waited, for example, for customs clearance at Hamburg's free port.
Thus, the players are always asked in clockwise order whether they want to accept the revealed suit as trumps or not.
[3] It makes tactical sense to give your partner a high value card in order to get a higher total of points at the end.
In these sequences, the 10s and Jacks take their natural positions e.g. ...Q > J > 10 > 9...[3] The played trick cards remain face up until it is clear who has the highest meld.
[3] Once Terz and fifty melds have been decided, the opponents now have the option of announcing "Contra" ("Kontra").
If the second trick has already taken place when they are announced, the points scored for Terz and fifty are forfeited.
In addition to the bonus points for melding Terzen and fifties, players may score further bonuses during subsequent play as follows: Bella or Belle is the king and queen of the trump suit.
A player with this meld must announce "Bella" when discarding the first of the two cards (it doesn't matter which one).
The team that starts a game and then wins it and plays it themselves get a small point.
If you win the small game 5:0, this is a Kalte and scores 2 big points.
Terzen, Fifties and Bella may be added to the result - provided they have been properly melded beforehand.
In order that a Klammer evening doesn't just consist of 2 or 3 games (Partien), a league format is usually used.
A player confident of playing a game and taking every trick may announce this before the deal starts.
However, if the opponent manages to take a trick, the match is also over and the player who attempted the march has lost.
In the Hamburg area, the game is called Klabberjazz and is scored as follows: A player who plays the faced suit, i.e. the original trump, plays what is called an Orgi ("Original").
A successful Orgi scores 2 points to the player who played trumps.
Example: Ben wins an Orgi that he played himself in the first deal of a round, so he may turn his die from six to two.
Sue wins a "little one" in the first deal of a round, which she played herself, so she turns her die from six to one.