Melds. The various combinations which are declared during the play of the hand are called melds, from the German word melden, to announce. These melds are divided into three classes: a, Marriages and Sequences; b, Binocles; and c, Fours. Only one combination can be announced at a time, and it must be melded immediately after the player holding it has won a trick, and before he draws his card from the stock. If he draws without announcing, even if he has not seen the card drawn, he cannot meld anything until he wins another trick. The melds and their values are as follows:—
| CLASS A. | |
|---|---|
| King and Queen of any plain suit, Marriage, | 20 |
| King and Queen of Trumps, Royal Marriage, | 40 |
| The five highest trumps, Sequence, | 150 |
| CLASS B. | |
| Spade Queen and diamond Jack, Binocle, | 40 |
| Two spade Queens and diamond Jacks, Double Binocle, | 80 |
| King and Queen of spades, and diamond Jack, Grand Binocle, | 80 |
| CLASS C. | |
| Four Aces of different suits, | 100 |
| Four Kings of different suits, | 80 |
| Four Queens of different suits, | 60 |
| Four Jacks of different suits, | 40 |
| Eight Aces, | 200 |
| Eight Kings, | 160 |
| Eight Queens, | 120 |
| Eight Jacks, | 80 |
The third meld in class B is not often played in America. The count for it is the same, 80 points, whether the marriage in spades is the trump suit or not. It will be observed that the court cards in class C must be of different suits in Binocle, whereas, in Bézique, any four court cards may be declared. The following rules govern all classes of declarations:—
The player making the declaration must have won the previous trick, and must meld before drawing his card from the stock. When the stock is exhausted, so that no cards remain to be drawn, no further announcements can be made.
Only one meld can be scored at a time, so that a trick must be made for every announcement made, or the combination cannot be scored, and a fresh card must be played from the hand for every fresh meld. This is a very important rule, and little understood. Suppose a player holds four Kings and four Queens. The total count for the various combinations these cards will make is 220: two plain-suit marriages, 20 each; royal marriage, 40; four Kings, 80; and four Queens, 60. As only one combination can be scored for each trick won, and as the player must lay down at least one fresh card for each successive meld, it is evident that if he begins with the 80 Kings, and then marries each of them in turn, when he comes to the fourth Queen he will have to sacrifice the 20 for a marriage in order to score the 60 for the four Queens. He cannot score both, or he will not be complying with the rule about the fresh card from the hand for every meld. That is why four Kings and four Queens are never worth 240, but only 220.
A player cannot meld cards which have already been used to form higher combinations in the same class; but he may use cards melded in lower combinations to form more valuable ones in the same class, provided he adds at least one fresh card from his hand. The principle is that cards may be added to melds already shown, but they cannot be taken away to form other combinations in the same class. For example: Royal marriage has been melded and scored. The player may add to this the Ace, Ten, and Jack of trumps to make the sequence, which is a more valuable combination in the same class. But if the first meld is the sequence, he cannot take away from the sequence the card or cards to form a marriage. A new Queen added to the King already in the sequence will not make a marriage; because it is not the Queen that is added to the sequence, but the King that is taken away.
The same rule applies to the binocles. If a player has scored double binocle, he can not afterward take away two cards to meld a single binocle; but if the single binocle has been melded and scored first, he may add two more cards, and score the double binocle. He cannot score the second single, and then claim the double, because some new card must be added to form a new meld in the same class.
If four Kings are melded and scored, the other four may be added later; but if the eight Kings are first melded, the score for the four Kings is lost.
Cards may be taken away from one combination to form less valuable combinations in another class. For instance: Four Jacks have been melded; the diamond Jack may be taken away to form a binocle with the spade Queen. If spades are trumps, and the sequence has been melded, the Queen may be taken away to form a binocle, because the binocle is in a different class of melds; but the Queen cannot be used to form a marriage, because the sequence and the marriage are in the same class. As there are three classes, one card may be used three separate times. The spade Queen, for instance, may be used in a marriage, in binocle, and in four Queens, and these melds may be made in any order.
Cards once used in combinations cannot again be used in melds of equal value belonging to the same class; and combinations once broken up cannot be re-formed by the addition of fresh cards. For instance: Four Kings have been melded, and one of them has been used in the course of play. The player cannot add a new King to the three remaining, and meld four Kings again. A marriage in hearts has been melded, and the King played away. A new King will not make another marriage with the old Queen. A binocle has been melded, and the Jack has been played; another Jack will not make a new binocle with the old Queen.