Appendix A: Official Doppelkopf Rules

The most important sections of the Official Doppelkopf Rules are reproduced below. These form the basis for the functioning of this Doppelkopf program.

A General

A.1


Doppelkopf is played by four players with a pack of 48 cards.

A.2 Card Ranks

A doubled card pack is used so that each card is in play twice. Clubs, Spades, and Hearts constitute the three equally-valued side suits and Diamonds are trump.

The rank of the cards from lowest to highest is:

a) in Trump:

b) in Spades and Clubs:

c) in Hearts:

A.3 Preparation for Play

The player to the dealer's right cuts the cards after they have been well shuffled by the dealer. When cutting the cards at least three of them must be removed from the pack and at least three must remain.

After the cards have been cut, the dealer distributes them to the other players in batches of 4 (12 cards to each player) beginning with the player to the dealer's left.


A.4 The Play

A.4.1

The player sitting to the left of the dealer leads to the first trick (for an exception to this, see C.2).

A.4.2

Each player in turn plays one card face up in clockwise rotation.

A.4.3

One must follow suit, i.e., play a card of the suit that was lead if possible. This is also the case for Trump. The lead of a trump card calls for the play of a trump card. If a player cannot follow what was lead, any card may be played.

A.4.4

The person playing the highest card of the suit lead or the highest trump, if any were played, wins the trick and lays all four cards face down beside him or her. (This is also true for the cards that count extra points -- see F.3.). He or she then leads to the next trick.

In determine which card wins the trick, the following rules apply:

A.4.5

As long as the fourth card has not yet been played to a trick, any player may ask to see the four cards of the previous trick.

A.5 Card Value & the Goal of the Game

Doppelkopf is a partnership game. The two players holding the Club Queens make up the Re-Team; the other two are the Contra-Team (Normal Games). In the event that one player holds both Club Queens, this is the special case of a "Marriage." (See C.4).

Each side attempts to capture more card points than the other. The cards have the following point values:

Thus, there are 240 card points altogether.

Note:

 

A.6 Scoring and Announcements (Contra & Re)

In games without any announcements, the Re-Team is the one that must make the game, i.e., capture 121 or more card points to win. If this count is not reached, the Contra-Team wins.

The value of a game (score) increases further when the losing side not only fails to make the required number of card points to win (121 for the Re-Team; 120 for the Contra-Team), but remains below certein threshholds: 90, 60, or even no tricks (schwarz).

In addition, one can increase the game value further by making certain announcements. Announcing, "Re" (holding the Club Queen) or "Contra" (without it) switches the offensive position to the announcing side which then requires 121 card points to win. If both are announced, then offensive and defensive positions are as in a normal game.

The announcement, "No 90" ("No 60", "No 30") asserts that the opposing side will capture fewer than the announced number of card points. "Schwarz" asserts that the opponents will capture not a single trick. If the opponents, in fact, pass the number of card points asserted, then the announcing side loses even if they have reached more than 120 card points themselves.

Furthermore, both sides can obtain additional score depending on their announcements (see, F.3).

A.7 Solos and Other Reservations

A player can attempt to play a game against the other three players, i.e., play a Solo game. In doing so, he or she takes over the role of the Re-Team alone and the remaining three players become the Contra-Team with all of the consequences in A.6. Special points cannot be earned in solo games, however.

Depending on the type of Solo played, the distribution and rank of the cards may differ from a normal game as follows:

A player who wishes to play a Solo game, must announce, "Reservation" during the bidding process. This is also the case if one wishes to play a "Marriage" game (compare C).

B Tournament Doppelkopf

B.1


A tournament judge and jury will be appointed prior to play. The jury will be consulted when a player disagrees with the decision of the tournament judge. The decision of the tournament jury is final.

B.2

All games will be played at tables with four players.

B.3

A round consists of 24 hands and must be played out within 100 minutes (for exceptions see B.5). Once begun, a game must be played to completion. (A game is considered begun as soon as the dealer begins dealing the cards). Games outstanding after 100 minutes will be ignored.

B.4

Each player is obligated to play at least one Solo (Required Solo) during each round.

B.5

Required Solos will be played out even if the time limit for a round is reached.

B.6

Seat positions at a table will be determined by the Tournament Committee and announced before the play. Player 1 at each table will deal the cards first while player 4 keeps score. If agreed upon, another player may keep score, but this has no impact on the seat positions at the table.

C Reservations

C.1


After the cards are dealt, each player, beginning with the player sitting to the dealer's left, says either, "Reservation" or "Pass." Once said, this can be taken back only before the next player says "Reservation" or "Ready." If more than one player says, "Reservation," then they rank as follows:

In order to determine which player has preference in this case, each player announcing "Reservation" will be asked whether he or she is playing a "Required Solo." If all answer, "No," then they are asked about a voluntary solo, and so forth.

In the case of Reservations of equal rank, the player sitting closest to the dealer (in clockwise rotation) has preference.

Once the highest ranking reservation is determined, it can be immediately announced and played.


C.2 Required Solos:

Any solo (compare A.7) can be played as a Required Solo. The soloist plays the first card of the first trick.

Each player must undertake one "Required Solo" within the round. In the event that the number of unplayed Required Solos equals the number of games remaining in the round, then the player sitting to the dealer's left must undertake a solo. The deal continues to rotate in the normal manner, however.

C.3 Voluntary Solo

Once a player has satisfied the requirement of playing one required solo, he or she may play additional "voluntary solos." Unlike the required solo case, however, the first card of the first trick is played by the player sitting on the dealer's left.

C.4 Marriage

A player holding both Club Queens can announce a "Marriage." He or she then plays together as the Re-Team with whomever wins the first trick. If the announcer wins the first trick, the partner is the winner of the second trick, etc. The determination must be made within the first three tricks, however. Otherwise, the game is played as a Diamond solo with the announcer playing against the other three players.

If a player holding the two Club Queens fails (or doesn't choose) to announce the marriage, he or she automatically plays a "secret" Diamond Solo. Such is also the case, when a player initially says, "Pass," and then announces a "marriage" at the beginning of play. In this situation, however, the game counts neither as a Required nor as a Voluntary Solo. It simply counts as a regular game.

C.5

The cards can be dealt by the same person twice only after a required solo where the soloist's deal comes next in the normal rotation.

D Announcements

D.1


The announcement of "Re" (by a Soloist or holder of a Club Queen) or "Contra" (against the holder of the Club Queen or Soloist) can be made only by a player still holding at least 11 cards in his or her hand, i.e., before the end of the second trick of a hand.

In the same way, the following announcements require:

A card is considered to be "in a player's hand," if it has not yet been played to a trick, i.e., placed face up on the table.

The words, "at least" should be understood to mean the latest point at which the announcement may be made unless the announcement is in response to that of another player as indicated in D.4 below.

It should also be noted that announcements may be made even when it is not yet a player's turn to play a card as long as the proper number of cards are held.

D.2

An exception to the limits established in D.1 is the case of a "Marrage" announcement when the partnership is not established until the second (third) trick. In this situation, the number of cards required to be held is reduced by one (two).

Note: Announcements can be made within one trick after the partnership has been established!


D.3

It is not possible to skip an announcement in the sequence even if the intervening announcement could still be legally made. Nor is it permitted to take back an announcement once it is made.

D.4


An announcement is permitted holding one fewer card than otherwise required, if it is made in response to a legal announcement made at the last possible time by the other side (e.g., "Re" in response to "Contra" when Contra was announced while holding 11 cards). [See D.2 for an exception to this.]

D.5

If "Contra" and "Re" have both been announced, a third player who announces, "No 90" ("No 60," etc.) must indicate to which team he or she belongs. It is permissible for both sides to announce "No 90" ("No 60," etc.).

D.6

If two players make announcements at the same time or one after another, they are both valid.

D.7

The repetition of identical announcements is not permitted. (See D.5.)

D.8

An announcement can first be made as soon as the game type is determined.

E Shortened Games

E.1


A game can be shortened only by the soloist in a Solo game.

A soloist who believes that he or she will capture all of the remaining tricks can lay his cards face up on the table. If the remaining tricks can be won only if played in a particular order, the soloist must indicate the order in which they must be played.

In the event that the soloist does not, in fact, capture all of the remaining tricks, all of the tricks from the time of the announcement of a shortened game go to the defending team without penalty.

E.2

The soloist can also shorten a game by giving his remaining cards to the opposition. In this case the opponents win the remaining tricks. The soloist gives up any claims that he or she might have had the opponents not followed suit.

F Point Values

F.1


The winning side is the one that captures more than 120 (Re-Team)/119 (Contra-Team) card points or some other number of required points if an announcement had been made. If the required number of points is not reached, then the other side wins. In the event that neither side captures the points required by their announcements, then neither side wins and the scores indicated in F.2.(a) and F.2.(c) below are not counted.

F.2

The winning team scores the following point values; the losing side subtracts them from their score.

F.3

Extra points can be scored by both sides in a normal game (there are no extra points in Solo games). They are calculated according to the following table:

F.4

Only the points in Table F.2 are scored in Solo games. These points are tripled and credited to the soloist's score in the event of a win, subtracted in the case of a loss. The opponents' scores are not tripled, but are simply recorded with the sign opposite that of the soloist.

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