Calabresella

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Bidding
5. Exchanging cards
6. Playing a trick
7. Scoring
8. Winning the game
9. Tips for beginners
10. Variants

Overview

Calabresella is the classic Italian version of Tressette for three players. It is a trick-taking game with no trumps, the same unusual card order (3s highest, then 2s and Aces) and the same point values. In each deal the players bid for the right to play alone: the highest bidder, the soloist, plays against the other two, who join forces for that deal. The soloist needs 6 of the 11 points in the deal. A higher bid is harder to win but pays more, and the first player to 21 game points wins.

• Players: 3, each for themselves (4 can play – the dealer sits out each deal, see Variants).
• You need: one standard 52-card deck, and paper and pen for the score.

The cards

Take out all 8s, 9s and 10s and the jokers. You play with 40 cards: 3, 2, A, K, Q, J, 7, 6, 5, 4 in each of the four suits.

In every suit the cards rank from high to low exactly in this order – note that the 3 and 2 are the highest cards:

3 – 2 – A – K – Q – J – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4

Some cards are worth points:

Setup

1. Dealer: choose a dealer at random; after each deal, the turn to deal passes to the right.
2. Direction: as in most Italian games, dealing, bidding and play go anticlockwise (to the right).
3. Deal: the dealer shuffles and deals 12 cards to each player, 4 at a time. The last 4 cards go face down in the middle: this is the monte (Italian for "heap").

Bidding

Starting with the player on the dealer's right, each player gets one chance to bid or pass. There are three bids, from lowest to highest:

Each bid must be higher than any bid before it: after chiamo you may only pass or say solo or solissimo; after solo, only solissimo; after solissimo nobody can bid. The highest bidder becomes the soloist; the other two play together as a team for this deal. If all three pass, the cards are thrown in and the next dealer deals.

Exchanging cards

Chiamo – calling a card: the soloist names one card they don't hold, usually a high one, such as "the 3 of hearts". Whoever holds it passes it to the soloist face up. If the called card is in the monte, nobody gives anything.

Taking the monte (chiamo and solo): the soloist turns the 4 monte cards face up for everyone to see and adds them to their hand. After a chiamo in which an opponent gave the called card, the soloist now gives that opponent any one card back, face up. Finally the soloist lays 4 cards face down as the new monte, so that everyone again holds 12 cards. The new monte goes to whoever wins the last trick.

Example: Anna bids chiamo and calls the 3♥. Carla has it and passes it over. The monte holds A♣, 2♠, 5♦ and K♥: Anna takes them all, gives Carla her 4♣, and lays four cards she doesn't want face down as the new monte.

Solissimo: the soloist doesn't touch the monte, and nobody looks at it until the winner of the last trick takes it. To raise the stake, the soloist may add one of these words:

• Dividete ("share"): each opponent takes 2 monte cards without showing them, then lays 2 cards of their choice face down.
• Scegliete ("choose"): the opponents turn the monte face up and share it out as they like (2 and 2, 3 and 1, or all 4 to one of them); each then lays as many cards face down as they took. In both cases the cards laid down form the new monte, which goes to the winner of the last trick.

Playing a trick

A trick is one round in which each player plays one card face up; the best card wins all three.

1. The player on the dealer's right leads (plays the first card) – except after a solissimo, when the soloist leads. Any card may be led.
2. The others play in turn, anticlockwise. You must follow suit – play a card of the suit led – if you can. Only if you have none may you play any card.
3. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick. There are no trumps.
4. The winner takes the cards and leads to the next trick. The two opponents keep their tricks in one shared pile.

There are 12 tricks. The winner of the last trick scores 1 extra point and also takes the monte, with any points in it.

Scoring

When all tricks are played, the soloist counts the card points in their tricks, dropping fractions (7⅔ counts as 7), and adds the last trick and the monte if they won it. There are 11 points in each deal. With 6 or more, the soloist wins; with 5 or fewer, the soloist loses.

The stake depends on the bid:

• Cappotto: if the soloist wins all 12 tricks – or loses all of them – the stake is doubled.
• Stramazzo: if one side wins all the card points but not all the tricks – the other side's tricks hold less than one point, not counting the last trick – the stake is tripled.

A winning soloist receives the stake from each opponent; a losing soloist pays it to each. On the score pad: the soloist gets plus twice the stake, each opponent minus the stake – or the other way round when the soloist loses. The three scores always add up to zero.

Example: Ben bids solo (stake 2). His tricks hold two Aces and eleven ⅓-point cards, and he wins the last trick: 2 + 3⅔ + 1 = 6⅔, which counts as 6 – just enough. Ben scores +4; Anna and Carla score −2 each.

Winning the game

Keep a running total for each player. The first player to reach 21 game points wins. (You can also simply agree on a number of deals and see who is ahead.)

Tips for beginners

• Count your sure points. A 3 with the 2 and Ace of the same suit wins three tricks and gives you all three high cards; a lone Ace is usually lost to a 3 or 2.
• Call the card you miss most. With 2♠ A♠ K♠, calling the 3♠ turns a weak suit into three sure tricks.
• Solissimo needs a very strong hand – you can't fix anything with the monte.
• As an opponent, work with your partner: lead through the soloist's weak suits and save your Aces for tricks your partner is sure to win.
• The last trick matters twice: it brings 1 point and the monte.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Four players: the dealer receives no cards and sits out the deal; the other three play as usual.
• Soloist always leads: at some tables the soloist leads to the first trick whatever the bid.
• More bids: Italian Wikipedia lists regional bids such as chiedo (between chiamo and solo) and arcisolo above solissimo, and forms for 4 to 7 players under names such as Quartiglio or Mediatore.
• Calabrasella (the old English-language version): described by "Cavendish" in 1870 and copied into many card-game books. Cards are dealt 2 at a time, and there is only one bid, "play" (like chiamo). After receiving the called card, the soloist gives back one card face down, then discards up to 4 cards before looking at the monte (the "widow") and replaces them with the same number of widow cards. All values are multiplied by 3 (Aces and last trick 3, the others 1), so there are 35 points; the soloist needs 18 and wins or loses the difference between the two sides' points.