Court Piece, also known as Coat Pees or Rang, is a trick-taking card game that originated in South Asia. It is commonly played with four players in two teams of two, and a standard 52-card deck is used.
Objective: The goal of Court Piece is to score points by winning tricks and meeting a predetermined point target, typically 10 points. The game is played over a series of rounds, and the first team to reach the point target wins.
Setup: The game starts with the dealer shuffling the deck and dealing 13 cards to each player, one at a time. The dealer also flips the top card of the deck to determine the trump suit for the round. The remaining cards of the deck are placed face down on the table, and this is known as the stockpile.
Gameplay: The player sitting to the dealer’s left starts the game. The objective of each round is to win at least seven tricks and score points. The player with the highest card in the leading suit wins the trick, and the winning team of the trick leads the next one.
If a player cannot follow the leading suit, they can play any card from their hand, including a trump card. The trump suit always outranks the other suits. If a player does not have a trump card, they can play any other card.
The highest ranking cards in Court Piece are the Ace, followed by the King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2. In the trump suit, the Jack of the same color as the trump becomes the highest-ranking card, followed by the other Jack of that color, then the Ace, King, and Queen.
Trump and Rank Values: In Court Piece, certain cards have a higher value than others, which contributes to the number of points a team can score by winning a trick. These cards are:
- Ace of trump: 4 points
- Ten of trump: 3 points
- King of trump: 2 points
- Queen of trump: 1 point
- Jack of trump: 3 points
- Jack of the same color as trump: 5 points
- Regular Jacks (not in trump): 1 point each
- Aces (not in trump): 0.5 points each
Note: If a team wins all 13 tricks in a round, they score an additional 10 points.
Each round ends when all players have played all 13 of their cards. The points scored by each team in that round are added to their cumulative score for the game.
Winning: The game continues until one team reaches the predetermined point target. The first team to reach or exceed the point target wins the game.
Tips and Strategies:
- Keep track of the cards that have been played to determine which ones are still in play.
- Use your high-ranking cards wisely, as they can help you win tricks and score more points.
- Try to remember which cards your opponents are holding, especially if you know which suit they are running out of.
- Communicate with your teammate to strategize and increase your chances of winning.
In conclusion, Court Piece is a challenging and entertaining card game that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. With these instructions, you are now ready to gather some friends, grab a deck of cards, and start playing Court Piece! Remember to have fun and may the best team win.