Tichu Reference Card - Microsoft Word format player aid (also available as a PDF file). It is intended that this be printed on a full-sheet of label paper, cut out, and then attached to the front and back of extra cards you have. Each print makes two player aid cards. The Abacus Spiele deck comes with a. Παίξτε Online Tichu, το καλύτερο παιχνίδι με χαρτιά στο dod.gr Games Παίξτε online multiplayer Tichu στο dod.gr και στο Facebook στην εφαρμογή dod Games σε μία.

• Tichu Game
• Tichu Online Greek

Grand Tichu Percentage: 46.15% Called: 13 Succesful: 6 Tichu Percentage: 67.44% Called: 129 Succesful: 87 Tournaments: 0 Tournaments First award: 0 Tournaments Second award: 0. All other games amount to 100 points max. Further a player can raise the bet by another 100 points by declaring a tichu. This means: he claims from the start before the opening card is played that he will finish first. Tichu is a team game. One can only score big points when one understands ones partner. Usually Tichu is played up to 1000 points.

Tichu - Online Guide

Starting The Game

With /join 4 players can join the game. With /start the game begins. Alternatively, you can use the Game Tool!

Object of the Game

Tichu is a card game for four people (there are other variations but only the standard 4 player game is on BSW). Two pairs of players work as teams to score the most points. An aim is to play out your cards as quickly as possible while making as many points as possible by taking tricks.

Flow of the game

There are 56 cards in the pack: 2 through Ace in four colours and four special cards (see below). Each player gets 14 cards.

The Swap

You must select 3 cards which you will pass to the other players. Drag and drop the cards onto the appropriate positions in the cream window. You will receive three cards from the other players. After the swap your cards can be re-organized by using the right click mouse button (drag and drop).

Playing the Cards

The player with the 1 (the Mahjongg, see below) always starts the round, and may play any valid combination. Click on the cards you wish to play then select 'Play Cards'.

On your turn, you may either play a higher combination (always using the combination type being played currently on the table) or you can 'Pass'. You do NOT have to play a higher combination if you have one, especially if your partner was last to play. The following combinations are allowed:

When a straight or stair steps are played you can only beat that bid by playing one of the same legth but higher value. So if a run of 6 was played first you could only beat it with a higher run of 6 even if you had a possible run of 8.

Bomb

Bombs are an exception, as they can be played at any time. They can be even played out of turn: if you have an available bomb you will be given a 'Bomb it' button which gives you the option at any time to play it and take the lead. You can always play a higher bomb on top of a lower bomb. Higher numbers win and a straight flush (a run in one suit) beats 4 of a kind.

The Special Cards

The Mahjongg

The Mahjongg (or 1 card) is the smallest card. You can play it at the start of runs or use it as a single. If you have the Mahjongg you must play first, however, it isn't necessary to play this card as your first card/set.

At the time you play the Mahjongg, you may make a wish for any normal card type. This wish is met by the next player who can play the specified card in the required combination for the current trick. If the next player does not have one of these cards he can play normally. The first player who has this card type and can play it legally must do so, even if the only legal combination is a bomb! You can play a bomb which does not include the wish, however the wish will still remain until it is fulfilled.

The Dog

You can only play the dog if you have the lead and no cards have been played. The dog immediately hands the lead to your partner. If your partner has already gone out then the lead is given to the player on your left. If he too has already gone out then it gives the lead back to you. The dog cannot be bombed.

The Dragon

The Dragon is the highest single card (Ace + 1) and can only be played when single cards are called for. If you win the trick with the dragon you must pass the trick to one of your opponents. You decide who gets it.

The Phoenix

The Phoenix is a wild card. It can be used to replace any normal card in any combination, however it cannot be used in a bomb! As single card the Phoenix ranks ½ point higher than the last card played. If it is played as the lead then it is worth 1½. The phoenix cannot beat the dragon as a single card, as its maximum value is Ace + ½.

End of the Round

The round ends once three players have played all their cards. 100 points are then distributed between the two teams. The player who did not manage to go out gives his cards/tricks to the player who went out first. Remaining cards in hand go to the other team.

Cards are scored as follows:

If one team goes out 1st and 2nd then the round finishes with a 200 point victory.

Announcing Tichu

Any player can announce 'Tichu' before they play their first card. If that player manages to go out first then he wins an extra 100 point bonus for his team. If he fails then his team loses 100 additional points.

If you feel that your hand is a certainty (the norm is that after 9 cards have been delt!) you can bid 'Grand Tichu'.

When set, players will be given an option after 8 cards have been dealt (prior to a further 6 to make the 14 in the hand). A Grand Tichu is worth +/-200 points, depending whether you go out first or not.

End of the Game

The game ends as soon as one team reaches 1000 points.

Game Options

round X

X number of rounds can be set prior to the start. The game ends once X rounds have been played.

tichujoin

Players 1 and 2 are in the first team when the game starts. 2 will become 3 and 3 become 2.

turnier (tournament)

In tournament mode 9 rounds are played. Each player plays with each other player three times as a team.

For each game won each player in the winning team gets two points. For a game which went 50:50 then every player gets 1 point. Points for Tichu are also given.

When two players from the same team go out first, they both get 3 points and 100 (not 200!) Tichu points. The losers get nothing. Points for Tichus are then added to the total the Tichupoints.

Special case: if a team finishes 1st and 2nd as well as the 2nd player NOT making a Tichu bid, they get two points each. The other team gets nothing.

'Grand Tichu' cannot be called in Tournament Tichu.

The winner is the one with the most points at the end of 9 rounds. If there is a tie then it is decided on the number of Tichu points.

Tichu is a climbing card game (in the same family as “President” or “Asshole”) descended from Zheng Fen with a few less combinations and different “bombs” but with partnerships, card passing, four special cards, and extra scoring. And, while the card play and scoring of the parent game are sufficiently and tactically interesting in their own right, each of these additions, in their way, serve to increase the number of decision points and, consequently, the feelings of tension you will have throughout the game. Amongst these, however, partnerships are the linch-pin; each of the others ties back to this in some way.

Tichu Game

Partnership play, by its nature, increases poignancy as you and your partner’s fate become inextricably bound and you worry from beginning to end whether it will be your decisions that cost you both the hand; or, worse, the game. Almost all of your decisions are tempered by this consideration; not only how this choice will affect yourself, but of how it will affect your partner. And it begins even before all the cards are dealt, when you are offered the opportunity to gamble, on behalf of you and your partner no less, on whether you will be the first player to void their hand (i.e. call “Tichu”). It continues into the decision over which card should be passed to which player and what signal you wish to convey to your partner about the strength or weakness of your hand. Are you positive you want to pass them the Dog and help yourself but also risk destroying what might otherwise have been an overwhelmingly strong Tichu hand for your partner? Perhaps you should keep the Dog and pass that Dragon of yours over to your partner instead? This constant pressure, however, also serves to magnify the burst of relief or joy you will feel at the end of an especially well played hand. The scoring, in particular, is excellently engineered to sustain tension and drive players to shed cards throughout the hand. It is also tied into, and re-enforcing of, the partnership aspect of the game.

Regardless of whether or not Tichu has been called, having one member of your team go out first will always be paramount. The benefits for this include the obvious potential for making (or stopping) a Tichu bid and scoring any point cards collected in the tricks of the player who went out last, but, perhaps most importantly, it also sets your team up for the possibility of going out first and second (or, “getting a Slam”). Because of this threat, after one player has gone out the pressure to shed cards remains wonderfully undiminished as you must now concentrate on going out second to either make or stop a Slam as this can result in a huge two to four (if Grand Tichu was bid) hundred point swing in fortunes for one team or the other. And, finally, while the pressure does ease off when you get down to the last two players, the scoring incentives available for not losing the point cards you’ve collected in tricks still continue the drive to shed cards until the bitter end. All of these objectives combine to help make even a poor hand feel somehow worthwhile as you can gear your efforts to supporting the team, be it ever so humble or cruel a contribution as to hold the Phoenix in your hand as you deliberately go out last!

And, so, to end this rather lengthy comment, I will say that after over 3 years of collecting and researching games, and after several thousand dollars invested so far, I am surprised yet delighted to find that the game I like most – far more than any other game – is one that can be played with a barely modified standard deck of cards! Heck, I’d be happy if this was the only game I owned – I like it that much. If I had gained nothing else from my time exploring the world of board games, it would have been worth it just to be aware of this game’s existence.

Tichu Online Greek

May 30, 2009: Got the mythical 14 card straight!