Durak

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Setup
3. Beating a card
4. Playing a bout
5. Drawing cards
6. Swapping the trump 6
7. End of the game
8. Scoring
9. Tips for beginners
10. Variants

Overview

Durak means "fool" in Russian. Players take turns attacking each other with cards; the player being attacked, the defender, tries to beat every attacking card with a higher one. Whoever gets rid of all their cards first is safe. There is no winner – only a loser: the last player left holding cards is the durak, the fool.

• Players: 2–6, each playing alone. 3 or 4 is ideal.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck. Take out all 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s (and the jokers) – you play with the remaining 36 cards.

The cards rank from high to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6.

Setup

1. Pick a dealer at random for the first game. After that, the fool of the previous game deals.
2. Shuffle and deal 6 cards to each player, face down, one at a time, clockwise.
3. Turn the next card face up: its suit is trumps (the strongest suit) for this game. Lay it on the table and put the rest of the deck face down across it, so the trump card still shows. This is the stock (draw pile). The face-up trump is the very last card to be drawn.
4. With 6 players all 36 cards are dealt and there is no stock: the dealer shows their last card to set trumps, then takes it into their hand.

Beating a card

A card is beaten when the defender covers it with:

• a higher card of the same suit, or
• any trump – unless the attacking card is itself a trump; then only a higher trump beats it.

Example: Hearts are trumps. The 9♠ is beaten by the 10♠, J♠ … A♠ or by any heart. The 9♥ is only beaten by the 10♥, J♥, Q♥, K♥ or A♥.

Playing a bout

The game is played in bouts. In each bout, one player is the attacker and the player to their left is the defender.

Who starts: In the first game, the player with the lowest trump in hand shows it and attacks first (if nobody has the trump 6, the trump 7, and so on; if nobody holds a trump at all, the player to the dealer's left attacks). In later games, the player to the dealer's left attacks first – so the fool of the last game is not the first to attack.

1. Attack: the attacker plays any card face up in front of the defender (or several cards of the same rank at once – the defender must beat each one).
2. Defend: the defender beats it by laying a card on top of it, slightly offset so both can be seen.
3. Throw in: now the attacker may throw in another card – but only one of a rank already on the table in this bout (attacking or defending cards). The defender must beat that too. The other players may also throw in cards of those ranks, but only if the main attacker allows it; the main attacker has priority, then the others in clockwise order.
4. This goes on until either the defender beats everything, or the defender gives up.

Limits: A bout never has more than 6 attacking cards, and never more attacking cards than the defender held at the start of the bout.

Example: Clubs are trumps. Anna attacks Ben with 8♦. Ben beats it with J♦. Anna may now throw in any 8 or Jack. She plays 8♠; Ben beats it with 6♣ (a trump). Now 8s, Jacks and 6s may be thrown in. Carla throws in J♥, Ben beats it with Q♥. Nobody has another 8, J, 6 or Q to add, so Ben has beaten off the attack.

The defender succeeds

If every attacking card is beaten and nobody wants to (or can) throw in more, the attack is beaten off. All cards of the bout are put aside face down – they are out of the game. The defender becomes the next attacker and attacks the player to their left.

The defender gives up

If the defender can't or won't beat a card, they announce that they take the cards. Before they do, the attackers may still add any cards they could legally have thrown in (still within the limit). The defender then picks up all cards of the bout – beaten and unbeaten – into their hand. The defender loses their turn to attack: the next attack comes from the player to the defender's left.

Drawing cards

After each bout, while the stock lasts, everyone with fewer than 6 cards draws back up to 6: first the main attacker, then the others who threw in (clockwise), and the defender last. If the stock runs out, some players simply get fewer cards or none.

Swapping the trump 6

If you hold the 6 of trumps (dealt or drawn), you may at any time exchange it for the face-up trump card under the stock, as long as the stock is not empty: put the 6 there and take the trump card into your hand.

End of the game

Once the stock is gone, nobody draws any more. A player who runs out of cards is out and safe. Play continues among the others (skip players without cards; if the next attacker has none, the next player clockwise with cards attacks).

The last player who still holds cards is the durak and has lost. If the last defender beats the last attack with their last card so that nobody has cards left, the game is a draw – there is no fool.

Scoring

Durak is normally played without points: you simply play again, and the fool deals the next game. If you want to keep score, write down 1 for the fool after each game. After an agreed number of games (or whenever you stop), the player who was the fool least often wins.

Tips for beginners

• Save your trumps. Beat low cards with low cards of the same suit and keep trumps for emergencies – especially near the end.
• Attack with low cards early; they are hard to use later.
• Taking cards isn't a disaster early in the game – but near the end it can make you the fool.
• Watch what is thrown away. Knowing which Aces and trumps are gone helps a lot.
• The trump under the stock goes to whoever draws last – remember who will get it.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Transfer Durak (Perevodnoy): Before beating any card, the defender may pass the attack on by adding a card of the same rank as the attacking card(s). The player to their left is now the defender against all these cards and may pass it on again in the same way. You can't pass it on if the new defender holds fewer cards than there would then be attacking cards.
• Five in the first bout: with more than three players, the very first bout of a game is limited to 5 attacking cards.
• Neighbours only: with 5 or 6 players it is usual to let only the players next to the defender (left and right) throw in.
• No swapping: some players don't allow the trump 6 to be exchanged.
• Two players with 24 cards: also take out the 6s, 7s and 8s (A K Q J 10 9 only). The trump 9 then takes the role of the trump 6.
• Partners: 4 players (2 against 2, partners opposite) or 6 players (3 against 3, alternating seats). The defender always defends alone – you can't help your partner. As soon as one side has played all their cards, the side still holding cards loses.