German Whist

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards and tricks
3. Setup
4. First stage: playing for the stock
5. Second stage: the tricks that count
6. Scoring
7. Winning the game
8. Tips for beginners
9. Variants

Overview

German Whist is Whist for two players – and, despite its name, an English game. It is played in two halves. In the first stage you play 13 tricks that don't count: their only purpose is to win the face-up card on top of the stock and so build a strong hand. In the second stage, with the stock used up, you play out your 13 cards, and whoever wins more of these last 13 tricks wins the hand. By then, a player who has paid attention knows exactly which cards the opponent holds.

• Players: exactly 2.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and paper and pencil for the score.

The cards and tricks

In every suit the cards rank from high to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. The cards have no point values – only tricks count.

A trick is one card from each player. The first player leads any card; the second must follow suit – play a card of the same suit – if possible. If not, they may play any card.

• If both cards are of the same suit, the higher card wins.
• If they are of different suits, the leader wins – unless the second player played a trump (a card of the trump suit, see below), which wins.

The winner of a trick leads to the next one.

Setup

1. Cut for the first deal: the higher card deals. After that, the players take turns to deal.
2. The dealer shuffles, lets the opponent cut, and deals 13 cards each, one at a time, starting with the opponent.
3. The remaining 26 cards form the stock (the draw pile), placed face down in the middle. Turn the top card face up and leave it on the stock. Its suit is trumps for the whole hand.

First stage: playing for the stock

1. The non-dealer leads to the first trick.
2. After each trick, the winner takes the face-up card from the stock into their hand. The loser takes the next card – face down, without showing it. Then turn the new top card of the stock face up.
3. Both players always have 13 cards. The winner of the trick leads to the next.
4. The tricks of this stage don't count – put them aside face down.

After 13 tricks the stock is used up.

So each trick is a small auction: is the face-up card worth spending a good card on? If the top card is an Ace of trumps, fight for it; if it is a low card, you may prefer to lose the trick cheaply – but remember that the loser gets an unknown card, and the winner keeps the lead.

Example: Hearts are trumps and the face-up card is the K♥. Anna leads the J♠; Ben follows with the A♠ and wins. Ben takes the K♥, Anna takes the next card unseen, and the card below it is turned face up. Ben leads the next trick.

Second stage: the tricks that count

Play out your 13 cards in the same way – the winner of the 13th trick of stage one leads first, you follow suit if you can, and the winner leads again – but now keep the tricks you win in front of you.

Every card that is not in your hand has either been played in the first stage or taken from the stock face up by your opponent – except the cards your opponent drew face down. If you have kept track, you can now work out your opponent's whole hand.

Scoring

Whoever wins more of the 13 tricks of the second stage wins the hand and scores the difference between the two players' tricks. A 7–6 win scores 1 point; winning all 13 scores 13.

Example: Anna wins 9 of the last 13 tricks, Ben 4. Anna scores 9 − 4 = 5 points.

Winning the game

Each hand can be treated as a game on its own. Otherwise, play an agreed number of hands or up to an agreed total – the player with the most points wins.

Tips for beginners

• Count trumps. With 13 of them in play, knowing how many your opponent can still have is the key to the second stage.
• In the first stage, try to win high cards and trumps, and don't waste your own on low face-up cards.
• Losing a trick with a card you don't need is a good way to get rid of it.
• Keep a long suit – in the second stage, once the high cards have gone, its low cards win tricks.
• Remember which cards your opponent took face up: they are in their hand.

Variants

• All tricks count: the majority of all 26 tricks wins; this was the scoring in the earliest printed rules (1894), but it makes the result more a matter of luck.
• Score from seven: only the tricks above six count – winning 10 of the last 13 tricks scores 4.
• No need to follow in the first stage: the second player may play any card, but only a higher card of the same suit or a trump wins.
• High or low: the colour of the first face-up card decides the second stage: red – win as many tricks as possible; black – win as few as possible.