At Polish bézique compound declarations are allowed, i.e. all the scores that can be made when cards are added to open cards are made at once, and the same card may be declared more than once (in combinations of a different class), without waiting to win another trick. The ordinary rule that a card once declared cannot be again declared in combinations of the same class, e.g. a king once married cannot be married again; a fifth ace added to 4 aces already declared does not entitle to reckon aces over again.
As examples of compound declarations take the following: A. wins the queen of faintest possible tinge—the shadow or phantom appearing to overwhelm the coloured trumps with the king. He has in his open cards 3 kings, 4 queens, and the ace, 10, knave of trumps. He declares royal marriage (40), 4 kings (80), but not 4 queens, as he cannot again reckon any of the 4 queens already declared in that class of combination, and sequence (250), in all 370.
Again, the ace of spades is turned up, and the ace of hearts is led. The second player wins the ace of hearts with the 7 of trumps, and exchanges the 7 for the turn up. He scores 10 for the exchange, and 10 for each of the aces he adds to his open cards—in all 30. If at the same time he were in possession of 2 other open aces, he would score 100 more for 4 aces.
At Polish bézique aces and 10’s must be declared as soon as the trick is won, and not at the end of the hand, a mode of scoring preferred by some players at ordinary bézique.
In the play of the hand it is not compulsory to follow suit nor to win the trick, and a player may win the trick by trumping notwithstanding that he holds a card of the suit led. But in the last 8 tricks suit must be followed if the second player has one of the suit led. The trick in the last 8 tricks must also be won by the second player if he has a higher card of the suit than the one led. If he has none of the suit led, and has a trump, he must win the card led by trumping.
Declarations do not cease at Polish bézique when playing the last 8 tricks. They are made just as in the early part of the hand after winning a trick and before leading again.
Polish bézique is generally played 2000 up, as the average scores are considerably higher than at ordinary bézique.
Block. Implements.—A board as in Fig. 105, the figures not being necessary, except when the game is played by correspondence—they are placed here to simplify the examples—16 pegs, and 2 King pegs; 12 pegs and the King pegs being required for play, the 4 remaining pegs are a reserve force of 2 for each player.
Play.—Divide the pegs, one player taking the White, the other the Black. The first to play is decided by lot. Each player then places a peg into one of the holes in turn, occupying those which he may consider the most advantageous, until the 12 pegs and the 2 King pegs have been placed. Then each moves one of his pegs in turn, but only one hole at a time, and as the lines run.