Bezique

Players and equipment

Two players and a 64-card pack, which is two 32-card packs shuffled together — sevens up to aces, two of each card. Within a suit the order is ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine, eight, seven — the ten sits above the king. Four-pack Rubicon Bezique is the tournament form; this is the classic two-pack game, and it is the ancestor of Pinochle.

The deal

Eight cards each in batches of three, two and three. The next card is turned face up beside the remaining stock and sets the trump suit; if it is a seven, the dealer scores 10 for it at once. The deal alternates, and the non-dealer leads to the first trick.

Play

The game runs in two halves, and only the first is loose. While the stock lasts you need not follow suit, and you may play anything to any trick. The higher card of the suit led wins it, or the higher trump if one is played; between two identical cards the first one played wins. The winner of a trick leads to the next.

Melding

A meld is a scoring group of cards — a marriage, a bezique, four of a kind, the groups listed under Scoring. Whoever wins a trick may lay one meld face up on the table before drawing, and it scores at once. Melded cards stay in your hand and may still be played: they lie on the table where both of you can see them, but they are yours to play to any later trick. Winner draws the top of the stock, loser draws the next.

One meld for each trick won, so a hand full of scoring cards is declared a piece at a time, and a card already played to a trick cannot be melded. The loser of a trick declares nothing.

Holding the seven of trumps, you may exchange it for the turned-up trump card, taking that card into your hand and leaving the seven in its place. That scores 10, exactly as melding the seven does. Either seven of trumps scores its 10 once, exchanged or simply shown after winning a trick.

The last eight tricks

When the stock is exhausted, take the trump card up and play out your last eight cards under strict rules: follow suit if you can, win the trick if you can, and trump if you cannot follow. The loser of the last drawing trick takes the turned-up card, which both players have seen all along, and the winner takes the last face-down card. Melds still on the table go back into the hand. No more melds are made, and the last trick is worth 10.

Scoring

Bezique

40

Queen of spades and jack of diamonds

Double bezique

500

Both of them, twice over

Common marriage

20

King and queen of one plain suit

Royal marriage

40

King and queen of trumps

Sequence

250

Ace, ten, king, queen and jack of trumps

Any four aces

100

From either pack, in any suits

Any four kings

80

The same

Any four queens

60

The same

Any four jacks

40

The same

Seven of trumps

10

Scored on melding it, or on exchanging it for the turn-up

Last trick

10

The eighth of the closing play

Double bezique laid all at once scores 500 in place of the 40, not as well as it. Score a single bezique first and then complete the double later and you keep both — 40 and then 500.

A card may be re-used in a new meld of a different kind, but never in the same one twice. A queen from a marriage may go on to make four queens or a bezique, but she cannot marry a second king. The royal marriage and the sequence work the same way: declare the marriage first for 40 and add the ace, ten and jack of trumps later for the 250; declared the other way round, the marriage inside the sequence scores nothing more.

Brisques — the aces and tens taken in tricks — are worth 10 each, counted at the end of the hand. There are sixteen in the pack, so 160 points in brisques are shared between you every deal, from the first trick to the last.

A worked deal

Hearts are trumps. Alice's melds over the deal, each declared after she has won a trick, with her running total:

Second trick

40, total 40

Royal marriage, king and queen of hearts

Fifth trick

40, total 80

Bezique, queen of spades and jack of diamonds

Sixth trick

250, total 330

Ace, ten and jack of hearts laid beside the marriage for a sequence

Ninth trick

80, total 410

Four kings, the melded king of hearts among them

Eleventh trick

10, total 420

The seven of hearts, exchanged for the turned-up ace

The sequence was legal because the marriage came first, and the four kings because a four is a different kind of meld. Ben has declared a marriage in clubs for 20 and four jacks for 40.

The stock runs out and the last eight tricks are played strictly. Alice takes five of them, the last included, for 10 more. Then each counts the aces and tens in the tricks they won across the whole deal: Alice has seven brisques for 70, Ben nine for 90. Alice's deal is 420 in melds, 10 for the last trick and 70 in brisques — 500. Ben's is 60 and 90 — 150.

Ending

First to 1,000 points, usually across several deals. Some play to 1,500 or 2,000. Deals are played until somebody crosses the line; if both cross it in the same deal, the higher total wins. Keeping score on SquareScores, the host sets the target when launching the game and the app closes the match at the line.

What to keep

Aces and tens are the only cards that win tricks in the strict play at the end, and every one taken is a brisque worth 10, so hold them and throw eights, nines and plain sevens as your losers in the first half. Kings and queens are meld material, and a second copy of any of them is a step towards a four. Never part with a queen of spades or a jack of diamonds while the stock lasts, and keep the seven of trumps for the exchange.

When to declare

Declare as soon as you win a trick and have something to show. Declarations stop the moment the stock runs out, and a marriage still in your hand then scores nothing, so an early 20 beats a 250 you never get to lay. Remember the order rule: royal marriage first and sequence later keeps both scores, bezique first and double later keeps both, and the other way round loses the smaller one.

Winning tricks in the first half

A trick is worth winning for one of two reasons: it holds a brisque, or you have a meld to declare. When neither is true, throw a loser and let it go; an ace spent on a trick of eights and nines is a brisque lost for nothing. Count the stock as it shrinks: the loser of the last drawing trick takes the turned-up trump, which you can see, and the winner takes an unknown card, so decide which you want before that trick.

The last eight tricks

Everything changes when the stock is gone. You must follow suit, you must win if you can and you must trump when you cannot follow, so the lead is powerful and a long trump suit runs away with it. Count the trumps as they fall — there are sixteen — and a hand built for the finish is trumps and aces and little else.

Rubicon Bezique

The tournament game, with four packs — 128 cards — and nine cards each. There is no turn-up: trumps are the suit of the first marriage or sequence declared. A hand with no king, queen or jack is carte blanche and scores 50, a sequence in a plain suit scores 150, a triple bezique 1,500 and a quadruple 4,500, and brisques are not counted. One deal is the whole game, and a loser who fails to reach 1,000 is rubiconed and hands their score to the winner.

Six-pack Bezique

Also called Chinese Bezique. Six packs, 192 cards and twelve cards each, with trumps set by the first marriage or sequence as in Rubicon. The numbers are far bigger: four aces of trumps score 1,000, four tens of trumps 900, four kings 800, four queens 600 and four jacks 400, and carte blanche and the last trick are 250 each. One deal decides it, and the loser who fails to reach 3,000 is rubiconed.

No brisques

Melds and the last trick only, with the aces and tens taken in tricks counting for nothing. It leans the game towards the declarations, which is how Rubicon and six-pack already play.

Three-handed Bezique

Three packs, 96 cards, and everybody for themselves. The winner of each trick melds and draws first, then the others in turn. With three copies of every card about, a triple bezique becomes possible and scores 1,500.

What is a bezique?

The queen of spades and the jack of diamonds, laid together, for 40 points. Both copies of each — two queens of spades and two jacks of diamonds — are a double bezique for 500, the biggest single score in the classic game and the one it is named for.

Is Bezique the same as Pinochle?

No, but they are close relatives. Pinochle grew out of Bezique in America: its pack is 48 cards rather than 64, the nine of trumps takes the place of the seven, and its pinochle is the same queen of spades and jack of diamonds. The partnership game with bidding is a good way from the two-player original.

Do you have to follow suit in Bezique?

Not while there are cards left to draw. Once the stock is gone the last eight tricks are strict: follow suit if you can, win the trick if you can, and trump if you cannot follow.

What is a brisque?

Any ace or ten taken in a trick. Each is worth 10 points, counted at the end of the deal; there are sixteen in the pack.

Can you use the same card in two melds?

In two melds of different kinds, yes: a queen in a marriage may later make four queens or a bezique. She may not be used in a second marriage, and a card played to a trick can never be melded afterwards.

How many points do you play to?

A thousand is the classic game, usually over several deals. Some tables play to 1,500 or 2,000. If both players cross the line in the same deal, the higher total wins.