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.
CALABRASELLA.
This is a very popular game with the middle classes and the unoccupied clergy in Italy, and it is one of the very few good games of cards for three players. If the game were better known, the author is sure it would become a great favourite, especially with those who are fond of the whist family, because Calabrasella is an excellent training school for the use of cards of re-entry, long suits, and tenace positions in the end game. In the combination of two players against the third its tactics very closely resemble Skat, and many interesting and difficult positions occur in every game.