CONQUIAN.
The etymology of this word is Spanish; con quién, “with whom,” but of the game it stands for, little or nothing is known except that it is a great favorite in Mexico, and in all the American States bordering upon it, especially Texas. It is an excellent game for two players, quite different from any other in its principles, and requiring very close attention and a good memory to play it well. In its finer points, especially in the judgment of what the adversary holds or is playing for, it ranks with our best games, and will probably grow in popularity as it becomes better known.
Cards. Conquian is played with the Spanish pack, forty cards, the 8 9 10 of each suit being deleted. In America, it is much more common to play with a pack of forty cards from which the three court cards, K Q J, have been discarded, leaving each suit an unbroken sequence from the Ace to the Ten. Some persons play with the full pack, but it spoils the game; as it is then possible to win on a sequence of a single suit. There are no trumps, and the cards have no value as to rank, a sequence of 6 7 J being no better than one of 2 3 4. The Ace is not in sequence with the King.
Counters. Each player should be supplied with at least ten counters, which may be used in settling at the end of each deal.
Players. Conquian is played by two persons, one of whom is known as the dealer, and the other as the pone. If there are three at the table, the dealer takes no cards, and has no part in the game for that hand.
Cutting. Seats and deal are cut for, the lowest cut having the choice, and dealing the first hand. The Ace is low, the King high.
Stakes. Each deal is a game in itself, and the loser pays one counter for it. If the game is a tie, called a tableau, each puts up a counter for a pool, and the winner of the next game takes the pool, in addition to the counter paid by his adversary. If the next game is also a tableau, each player adds another counter to the pool, and so on until it is won.
Dealing. Ten cards are dealt to each player in five rounds of two at a time, and the twenty remaining in the stock are laid upon the table face down, between the players, but a little to the left of the dealer. The stock may be slightly spread, to facilitate the process of drawing cards from it.
Objects of the Game.The object of each player is to form triplets, fours, and sequences, by combining the cards dealt him with others drawn from the stock. These combinations are laid upon the table, face up, and the player wins the game who first succeeds in laying down eleven cards in this manner.
Sequences must be all of the same suit, and cannot be shorter than three cards. The Ace is not in sequence with the King, but the 7 is next below the Jack. A sequence once started can be added to from time to time as the cards are drawn from the stock.
Triplets are any three cards of the same denomination, and they may be increased to Fours at any time, by adding the other card.
Borrowing. A player with four of a kind on the table may borrow any one of the four to use in a sequence; but he cannot borrow one of three, because no combination may consist of less than three cards. In the same manner a player may borrow the card at either end of a sequence of at least four cards, if he can use it to make a triplet. He cannot borrow an intermediate card, nor one of a sequence of three cards only, because three cards must be left to maintain the sequence, but if he had a sequence of at least five cards on the table, he might borrow the top of it to make one triplet, and then the next card to make another triplet.
Method of Playing. The cards dealt, each player sorts his hand into sequences and triplets, and determines what cards he wants to complete his runs, so that he may be on the lookout for them. The pone then draws the top card from the stock and turns it face up on the pack. If this card can be used in combination with any of those in his hand, he draws it over to his side of the table, and takes from his hand the cards completing the combination of three cards, leaving them all face up. Even if he has cards enough in his hand to increase the combination to four or more cards, he should not show them. The cards drawn from the stock must never be taken into the hand.
Let us suppose the pone holds these cards:—♡ J 7 6 4; ♠ 5 3 2; ♢ K 7 5; and that the ♡ 5 is the first card he draws. He can use this card in three ways: By making a run of three with the ♡ 4 and ♡ 6; or a run with the ♡ 6 and ♡ 7; or a triplet with the two other 5’s. In this case he would probably lay out the 6 and 7, and make the run of three. If he should draw the ♡ Q later on, he could use it by continuing the sequence with his Jack; or if the ♡ 3 appeared, he could use it with his ♡ 4.
Passing. If he cannot use the card drawn, or does not wish to, he draws it from its position on the top of the stock and places it between himself and the dealer, still face up. The dealer then decides whether or not he wants it, and if he does not he “passes” it by turning it face down, and pushing it to his right. Cards once passed in this manner cannot again be seen by either player. The player who passes the card turns up the next one on the stock. If he does not want it, he places it on the table between himself and his adversary, and if his adversary does not want it either, he turns it down and passes it to the pile of deadwood, turning up the top card of the stock again. In this manner it will be seen that each player has to decide on two cards in succession; the one drawn but not used by his adversary, and the one he draws himself. This is continued until the stock is exhausted, which ends the game.
Discarding. If a player uses any card drawn from the stock in this manner, it is obvious that he has too many cards, and in order to reduce his hand and show-downs to ten cards, he must discard something, unless he can show down everything remaining in his hand, in which case he would have eleven cards down, and win the game. In discarding, the card thrown out is placed at the disposal of the adversary, as if it were the card drawn from the stock, and if the adversary does not want it, he passes it and draws another. It should be observed that the player drawing the card from the stock always has the first refusal of it. This is sometimes very important, as both players often need the same card.
In the foregoing example, the player’s best discard would be his ♢ K, which is too far removed from the others in the suit to make a run possible, and there is no mate to it with which to start a triplet. If the adversary could use this King, he would have to discard in his turn, and the card so thrown out would be at the disposal of the other player, just as if it had been drawn from the stock.
Forcing. A player need not use any card drawn, but if he has upon the table any combination in which it can be used, his adversary may force him with it, even after it has been declined. For instance: A player has eight cards down, two sequences of four small cards each, and in his hand a pair of Kings. Another King will make him game; but if he has to depend on his sequences to put him out, he will have to get three more cards. Suppose he draws a card that will fit one of his sequences; it is to his advantage to pass it; but upon laying it on the table his adversary may take it up and force him with it, by placing it at the end of his sequence, at the same time saying: “Discard.” In the same manner a player holding one of the cards of his adversary’s show-down sequence or triplet may force after using a card, by placing his discard on his adversary’s sequence, instead of laying it on the table. If it is laid on the table, the adversary may pass it at once, by turning it down, and it is then too late to compel him to use it. Suppose you think your adversary holds two cards of an unplayed sequence, and has a triplet on the table. If you can use one of those sequence cards in his hand to advantage, and can force him by giving him the fourth card of his triplet, which is of no use to you, you should do so; but you must remember that you cannot force except after using a card yourself, because you are not allowed to discard under any other circumstances.
If a player looks at any of the cards that have been passed and turned down, his adversary may take up and examine the remainder of the stock, but without disturbing the position of the cards therein, and without showing them. If a player looks at any of the cards in the stock except the one he draws, his adversary may look at all of them. If a player draws out of turn, his adversary simply claims the card.
Showing. After the last card is drawn from the stock and passed, each player shows the remainder of his hand, and as neither can combine his cards so as to get eleven down, it is a tableau, and each puts a counter in the pool for the next hand. The deal passes from one player to the other in rotation as long as they continue to play.
Suggestions for Good Play. Observation of the cards passed will usually show what the adversary is keeping, and what he has no chance for. Toward the end of the stock each player should know what the other holds in his hand by the cards which have not appeared in the drawing. If a player has not a good chance to get eleven down himself, he should play for a tableau, by using nothing that will compel him to discard cards which may put his adversary out. It should be remembered that a player cannot get eleven down in one suit, and careful observation of the cards passed will often show that his runs are blocked, the cards necessary to continue them having been turned down.
One peculiar feature of the game is that a player cannot block his adversary and at the same time win the game, because so long as he holds up the card that his adversary wants he cannot get eleven down himself. His only chance is that he may be able to use the card that his adversary needs. For instance: He holds two 8’s, one of which will make his adversary eleven down by completing a sequence. If there is another 8 to come, the player with the pair may use both his 8’s, and win; but if there is no other 8 to come, it is impossible for the player with the two 8’s to win without first putting his adversary out.
There are no Text Books on Conquian, and this is the first complete description of it ever published.