doc: write the Trick-Taking Games chapter (manual pass 4)
* doc/card-games.texi (Trick-Taking Games): shared-keys intro plus a section for each game -- 500, Hearts, Spades, Whist, Oh Hell, Euchre, Pitch, Briscola, and Contract Bridge -- with object, rules, a strategy note, and its keys, including the distinct 500 and Bridge keymaps.
This commit is contained in:
parent
f2ca3ba635
commit
8f8c44b47b
1 changed files with 213 additions and 2 deletions
|
|
@ -591,8 +591,219 @@ controls are identical.
|
||||||
@node Trick-Taking Games
|
@node Trick-Taking Games
|
||||||
@chapter Trick-Taking Games
|
@chapter Trick-Taking Games
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
@c TODO(pass 4): 500, Hearts, Spades, Whist, Oh Hell, Euchre, Pitch,
|
@cindex trick-taking
|
||||||
@c Briscola, Bridge.
|
@cindex tricks
|
||||||
|
In these games the four players each play a card to the @dfn{trick}, and
|
||||||
|
the highest card (or the highest trump) wins it. You sit South; the
|
||||||
|
other three seats are computer players, and for the partnership games
|
||||||
|
North is your partner.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@cindex trick games, controls
|
||||||
|
Most of them share these controls:
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@table @kbd
|
||||||
|
@item @key{LEFT} @key{RIGHT}
|
||||||
|
Choose a card in your hand.
|
||||||
|
@item @key{RET} @r{(or} @key{SPC}@r{)}
|
||||||
|
Play the chosen card. During the Hearts pass it instead marks a card.
|
||||||
|
@item p
|
||||||
|
Confirm the Hearts pass, once three cards are marked.
|
||||||
|
@item n @r{/} g @r{/} ? @r{/} q
|
||||||
|
New match, redraw, describe the keys, and return to the menu.
|
||||||
|
@end table
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@noindent
|
||||||
|
When a game calls for a bid, you are prompted for it in the minibuffer.
|
||||||
|
@xref{Opponents}, to set how hard the computer plays. 500 and Bridge
|
||||||
|
have richer boards and a few keys of their own, noted below.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@menu
|
||||||
|
* Five Hundred: 500. Partnership bidding to 500.
|
||||||
|
* Hearts:: Avoid the hearts and the black lady.
|
||||||
|
* Spades:: Bid your tricks; spades are trump.
|
||||||
|
* Whist:: Fixed trump, no bidding.
|
||||||
|
* Oh Hell:: Bid exactly, on shrinking hands.
|
||||||
|
* Euchre:: Bowers, and going alone.
|
||||||
|
* Pitch:: Set the trump with your lead.
|
||||||
|
* Briscola:: No follow; capture the points.
|
||||||
|
* Bridge: Contract Bridge. The auction, the dummy, the rubber.
|
||||||
|
@end menu
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@node 500
|
||||||
|
@section 500
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@findex cg-bid
|
||||||
|
@cindex 500
|
||||||
|
Australia's national card game, and the flagship of this collection. You
|
||||||
|
and North play against East and West. After the deal there is an
|
||||||
|
auction: each side bids a number of tricks (six to ten) and a trump ---
|
||||||
|
or Misère, to take no tricks at all. The high bidder takes the five-card
|
||||||
|
@dfn{kitty}, then discards five cards, and play begins.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The trump order runs Joker (highest), then the Jack of trump (right
|
||||||
|
bower) and the other Jack of the same colour (left bower), then Ace down
|
||||||
|
to Four. Score the Avondale table for making or breaking the contract.
|
||||||
|
A side wins by reaching 500 on a contract it made (the ``front door''),
|
||||||
|
and loses by falling to @minus{}500 (the ``back door'').
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@table @kbd
|
||||||
|
@item b
|
||||||
|
Make a bid; @kbd{p} passes.
|
||||||
|
@item @key{RET}
|
||||||
|
Select the card, or the kitty card, under the pointer.
|
||||||
|
@item x
|
||||||
|
Discard the five cards you have marked for the kitty.
|
||||||
|
@item v
|
||||||
|
Toggle the full-window table.
|
||||||
|
@item M-@key{UP} M-@key{DOWN}
|
||||||
|
Scroll the message log (the mouse wheel works too).
|
||||||
|
@item n @r{/} ? @r{/} q
|
||||||
|
New game, help, and the menu.
|
||||||
|
@end table
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@noindent
|
||||||
|
500 can also be played live against other people over the network.
|
||||||
|
@xref{Networked Play}.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@strong{Strategy.} Bid what your trumps and side-suit aces can actually
|
||||||
|
make; take the kitty only when it can complete a contract; and keep
|
||||||
|
Misère for a hand too weak to win a single trick.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@node Hearts
|
||||||
|
@section Hearts
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@findex cg-hearts
|
||||||
|
@cindex Hearts
|
||||||
|
An avoidance game with no trump. Every heart costs one point and the
|
||||||
|
Queen of Spades costs thirteen, and you want as few as possible. Before
|
||||||
|
each hand you pass three cards to another player --- left, right, across,
|
||||||
|
then a hand with no passing, and around again. The Two of Clubs leads
|
||||||
|
the first trick, on which no points may be played.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Take @emph{all} the points in a hand and you ``shoot the moon'': the
|
||||||
|
twenty-six are charged to everyone else instead. When a player reaches
|
||||||
|
100 the game ends and the lowest score wins.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@strong{Strategy.} Void a suit so you can throw the Queen or a heart into
|
||||||
|
it; keep track of who might hold the Queen; and only chase the moon with a
|
||||||
|
hand that cannot be stopped.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@node Spades
|
||||||
|
@section Spades
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@findex cg-spades
|
||||||
|
@cindex Spades
|
||||||
|
Spades are always trump. Each player bids the number of tricks they
|
||||||
|
expect to win, and the two partners' bids are added: your side must make
|
||||||
|
that combined total. Extra tricks (``bags'') score a point each, but
|
||||||
|
every tenth bag costs you 100. A bid and made @dfn{Nil} --- no tricks at
|
||||||
|
all --- scores 100, or loses 100 if broken. Play to 500.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@strong{Strategy.} Count your sure winners before you bid; go Nil only
|
||||||
|
with low spades and short, duckable side suits; and protect your
|
||||||
|
partner's Nil when you can.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@node Whist
|
||||||
|
@section Whist
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@findex cg-whist
|
||||||
|
@cindex Whist
|
||||||
|
The old English ancestor of Bridge, with no bidding. The dealer's last
|
||||||
|
card is turned for trump. Follow the suit led if you can; trumps beat the
|
||||||
|
plain suits. Each side counts one point for every trick it wins beyond
|
||||||
|
the @dfn{book} of six, and the first side to five wins.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@strong{Strategy.} Lead from your longest suit, draw the opponents'
|
||||||
|
trumps, and remember the cards that have gone.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@node Oh Hell
|
||||||
|
@section Oh Hell
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@findex cg-ohhell
|
||||||
|
@cindex Oh Hell
|
||||||
|
The hand shrinks every deal, from seven cards down to one, and a card is
|
||||||
|
turned for trump. Each player bids the @emph{exact} number of tricks
|
||||||
|
they will take and scores a bonus only for hitting it precisely --- one
|
||||||
|
over or under and the bonus is lost. Play the fixed run of rounds; it is
|
||||||
|
every player for themselves.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@strong{Strategy.} On the small hands a high card is a sure trick and a
|
||||||
|
low one a sure miss; do not be afraid to bid zero and duck everything.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@node Euchre
|
||||||
|
@section Euchre
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@findex cg-euchre
|
||||||
|
@cindex Euchre
|
||||||
|
A brisk 24-card game (Nine to Ace). The Jack of the trump suit (the
|
||||||
|
@dfn{right bower}) and the other Jack of the same colour (the @dfn{left
|
||||||
|
bower}) are the two highest trumps. A card is turned up, and you may
|
||||||
|
@dfn{order it up} as trump or, later, name a different suit. The side
|
||||||
|
that names trump must take three of the five tricks. Partnership to 10.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
You are asked whether to order up the turned card (@kbd{y} or @kbd{n})
|
||||||
|
and, if bidding comes round again, to name a trump.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@strong{Strategy.} Order up with three trumps, or two trumps and an
|
||||||
|
off-suit Ace; a very strong hand can be played ``alone'' for a bigger
|
||||||
|
score.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@node Pitch
|
||||||
|
@section Pitch
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@findex cg-pitch
|
||||||
|
@cindex Pitch
|
||||||
|
Auction Pitch. Players bid for the right to @dfn{pitch}, and the
|
||||||
|
pitcher's first lead sets the trump suit. Thereafter follow the led suit
|
||||||
|
if you can, but you may always trump instead. Four points are at stake
|
||||||
|
each hand --- High, Low, Jack, and Game --- and the first to seven wins.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@strong{Strategy.} Bid only on a solid trump holding, ideally with the
|
||||||
|
Jack or with both the highest and lowest trumps.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@node Briscola
|
||||||
|
@section Briscola
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@findex cg-briscola
|
||||||
|
@cindex Briscola
|
||||||
|
A 40-card Italian game. One card is turned to fix the trump, the
|
||||||
|
@dfn{briscola}, and --- unusually --- there is no need to follow suit: you
|
||||||
|
may play any card to any trick. Winning a trick captures its cards, and
|
||||||
|
the Aces and Threes carry the most points. Capture the points; the first
|
||||||
|
to 61 of the 120 wins.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@strong{Strategy.} Save your briscole to capture the opponents' Aces, and
|
||||||
|
lead worthless cards to coax points out of them.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@node Contract Bridge
|
||||||
|
@section Bridge
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@findex cg-bridge
|
||||||
|
@cindex Bridge
|
||||||
|
@cindex Contract Bridge
|
||||||
|
The full game: the auction, then the play with the dummy exposed, and
|
||||||
|
rubber scoring. You sit South and partner North against East and West.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
In the auction you compose a call and make it: @key{UP} and @key{DOWN}
|
||||||
|
change the level, @key{LEFT} and @key{RIGHT} change the strain, @key{RET}
|
||||||
|
bids it, @kbd{p} passes, and @kbd{d} doubles. When the auction ends, the
|
||||||
|
declaring side's first player is declarer and their partner is the dummy,
|
||||||
|
whose hand is turned face up; the declarer plays both hands, so you play
|
||||||
|
the dummy from your seat when it is the dummy's turn. Making your
|
||||||
|
contract scores below the line toward game and the rubber.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@table @kbd
|
||||||
|
@item arrows @r{and} @key{RET}
|
||||||
|
Compose and make a call (auction), or choose and play a card (play).
|
||||||
|
@item p @r{/} d
|
||||||
|
Pass and double, during the auction.
|
||||||
|
@item n @r{/} g @r{/} q
|
||||||
|
Next deal, redraw, and the menu.
|
||||||
|
@end table
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
@strong{Strategy.} Count your high-card points, look for an eight-card
|
||||||
|
trump fit with your partner, and plan the whole hand --- drawing trumps,
|
||||||
|
setting up a long suit --- before you play to the first trick.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
@node Rummy Games
|
@node Rummy Games
|
||||||
@chapter Rummy Games
|
@chapter Rummy Games
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
Loading…
Add table
Add a link
Reference in a new issue