Jass–Belote card games

The Jass–Belote family of card games is a group of point-trick trick-taking games in which the Jack ("jass") and Nine of the trump suit are the highest-ranking trumps, and the Tens and Aces of all suits are the next most valuable cards. Games in this family are typically played by 2 or 4 players with the 32 French-suited cards of a piquet deck.

Variants of 2-handed Klaberjass are played worldwide, especially in Jewish communities. 4-handed Belote with its numerous variants is the French national card game and has spread as far away as Cyprus and Saudi-Arabia. Other notable members of the family include the Swiss and Dutch national card games (Swiss Jass and Dutch Klaverjas) and Twenty-Nine, a popular game in South Asia.

In the South Asian games trick-play is governed by the simple standard rule (familiar from whist-like games) that suit must be followed if possible and a player who is blank in the suit led may play any card. All other games in this family have slightly different rules that encourage trumping, typically by requiring players to trump a trick when they cannot follow suit. The Swiss games are special in that they are less restrictive than whist, allowing players to trump a trick even when they can follow suit. The methods for determining the trump suit vary as in other groups of related games. In many games players can meld certain combinations in their hand to score additional points in exchange for giving information to the opponents, and score by a different mechanism for holding a "belote" (King and Queen of trumps).

History

Smoojas (1821)

Trump suit	Typical value	Other suits
J	20
9	14
A	11	A
K	3	K
Q	2	Q
	1	J
10	10	10
	0	9
8	0	8
7	0	7

Most modern games

Trump suit	Typical value	Other suits
J	20
9	14
A	11	A
10	10	10
K	4	K
Q	3	Q
	2	J
	0	9
8	0	8
7	0	7

The earliest recorded game of this family appears to be the 2-handed game described in a Dutch book from 1821 as Smoojas ("Jewish Jass"). As far as basic gameplay is concerned, it is very similar to modern variants, but the following differences can be observed:

1. In most modern games the Tens rank high, between Ace and King.
2. The scoring values of the picture cards (other than the Jack of trumps) is greater by one in most modern games.
3. In Smoojas the second player to a trick must follow suit if possible, and must take the trick if possible while following suit. In most modern games the second rule has been relaxed and made more complicated in the process.