4 players · You versus three AI players · Scores per deal

Call an Ace to find a partner, or play Wenz or Solo alone. Declarers need 61 card points; defenders need only 60.

1. 1

   Objective

   • Declarer’s side needs at least 61 card points. Defenders need 60. In Rufer, declarer partners with the called-ace holder. Wenz, Solo and their Tout contracts are one against three.
2. 2

   Setup

   • Use four German suits with A (Daus), 10, König, Ober, Unter, 9, 8 and 7: 32 cards. Select this subset from Bavarian and double-German packs. Salisburghesi excludes fives and sixes, preserving native Daus faces as aces. Weli six is excluded. Values are 11, 10, 4, 3, 2, 0, 0, 0: 120 total.
   • Deal clockwise in two rounds of four, eight cards each. The player to dealer’s left bids and leads first. Dealer moves left next deal.
3. 3

   Bidding and contracts

   • One round with explicit contract bids: pass or bid higher. Earlier seats have priority for equal contracts. Order: Rufer < Wenz < Solo < Wenz Tout < Solo Tout < Sie. Four passes cause the next dealer to redeal.
   • Rufer trumps are all Obers, all Unters and hearts. Declarer calls an ace of acorns, leaves or bells, must not hold that ace, and must hold an ordinary card of its suit. Its holder becomes the secret partner, revealed by playing the ace or escaping legally.
   • Wenz has only the four Unters as trumps. Obers return to ordinary suits ranked Daus > 10 > König > Ober > 9 > 8 > 7. Solo trumps are all Obers, Unters and the chosen suit. Declarer must hold an ordinary card of that suit.
   • Tout undertakes to win all eight tricks. Losing one ends the deal in defeat. Sie requires all four Obers and all four Unters at the deal and wins immediately.
4. 4

   Playing a turn

   • Ordinary suits rank Daus > 10 > König > 9 > 8 > 7. Trumps rank all Obers, then all Unters, each ordered acorns > leaves > hearts > bells, followed by the trump suit’s Daus > 10 > König > 9 > 8 > 7. Courts belong to trumps, not their printed suits. In Wenz only Unters do so.
   • Follow effective suit if possible. Otherwise play anything. There is no obligation to beat or trump. Highest trump wins, otherwise the highest card of the led suit. Winner leads next.
   • In Rufer, the called ace must be played the first time its suit is led, even after a trump. Before that suit has been led, do not discard it to another suit unless it is your only card. With the called ace and at least three other ordinary cards of its suit, lead a lower one to escape. Afterward discard the ace normally.
5. 5

   Scoring and ending

   • Score units, not money: Rufer base one, Wenz and Solo five. Declarer’s side at 91 or defenders at 90 score Schneider, adding one. Taking all eight tricks scores Schwarz, adding two instead. Tout base ten has no Schneider or Schwarz bonus. Sie base twenty.
   • Laufende counts the consecutive highest trumps initially held by either side, starting at acorn Ober or acorn Unter in Wenz. At least three in Rufer or Solo, or two in Wenz, are needed. Each adds one, doubled for Tout and quadrupled for Sie, paid to the winners whichever side held them.
   • In Rufer each winner gains the settlement value and each loser loses it. In solo play, each opponent gains or loses the value. Declarer gains or loses three times that amount. Scores sum to zero.