Vint

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Vint is a Russian card-game, similar to both bridge and whist and it is sometimes referred to as Russian whist. Vint means a screw in Russian, and the name is given to the game because the four players, each in turn, propose, bid and overbid each other until one, having bid higher than the others care to follow, makes the trump, his vis-d-vis becoming his partner.

The game spread to Finland, where it evolved into Skruuvi, which features also a kitty and misère contracts.

[edit] Description of Vint

Vint has many similarities to bridge: The cards have the same rank. The score of tricks is entered under the line, and points for slam, honors, and penalties for undertricks above the line. The bidding is similar to bridge, one bids the number of tricks and the trump suit or no trump.

During the progress of the bidding and declaring, opportunity is taken by the players to indicate by their calls their strength in the various suits and the high cards they hold, so that, when the playing begins, the position of the best cards and the strength of the different hands can often be fairly accurately estimated.

Unlike Bridge, in Vint there is no dummy, all taken tricks count toward a game (that is, the tricks taken by the defenders as well as the tricks taken by the declarer side including overtricks, regardless of whether the contract was made or not), and the bidding ends after eight passes (everyone passes twice including the player who made the last bid.) The value of a trick depends on the level of contract. In higher contracts the value of a trick is higher.

The card play follows the standard whist formula. One must follow suit, but if unable to do so, one can play any card. The trick is won by the highest trump, if there are trumps in the trick, otherwise by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of the trick starts the next one.

Points are awarded also for honours. In a no trump declaration aces count only as honors; in a suit declaration both the aces and the five next highest cards.

[edit] Skruuvi

Skruuvi is a Finnish variant of Vint, and it became common in Finland while it was a part of Russia. Skruuvi is still played in Finland as a niche hobby whereas Vint is not played in Russia.

In Skruuvi, there is a kitty of four cards that the declarer side gets after bidding, and the game involves some exchange of cards so that everyone ends up with 13 cards. After the exchange of cards, the bidding continues, but only the members of the declarer side are allowed to participate in bidding. The trick-taking play occurs after this second bidding round. In addition to the Vint-style scoring, the declarer side gets a bonus for a made contract that depends on the level of the contract.

It is also possible to bid misääri, a game where the aim is to avoid tricks. In a round-pass situation a forced misääri is played.

After a rubber has been played in Skruuvi, four end games (called Kotka) are played without a kitty. In the end games the bidding starts at a level of six (small slam level), and the exchange of cards favours highly the declarer side.

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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