Königrufen

Contracts

• Rufer — Vorhand-only contract. Declarer calls a king as silent partner; takes 3 talon cards and discards 3. Declarer + king-holder must reach ≥36 card_points combined. Partnership silent until called king is played. Vier-König-Rufer: a declarer holding 3 kings may call 'the fourth king' without naming the suit (the player holding it becomes partner). Talon-king exception: if the called king is in the talon, declarer ends the game uncontested at simple value (no Contra possible).
• Besserrufer — Like Rufer but the declarer must announce a bird at bid time. Realisations (per Possert): Pagatrufer (bird=pagat-ultimo, total 1+2), Uhurufer (1+4), Kakadurufer (1+6), Maraburufer (1+8). The announced bird must be made or the bird's mirror penalty applies. Spiel and bird are scored separately — game can be won and bird lost, or vice versa.
• Solorufer — Like Rufer but the talon is NOT picked up — opponents receive both talon halves and their card_points. Exception: if the called king is in the talon, the declarer takes the half containing the king instead. Solorufer doubles all bonus announcements (per the solo-bonus-double rule).
• Dreier — Possert variant — declarer plays alone vs the other 3, picks one talon-half (3 cards) and discards 3, needs ≥36 card_points alone. NOT in the Elsteiner Games rotation; included for online-play compatibility with Possert reference rules.
• Solodreier — Declarer plays alone vs the other 3 and the talon is NOT picked up — both halves go to opponents. Higher value than Sechserdreier because no talon access. Solo bonus-doubling applies.
• Sechserdreier — Declarer plays alone, takes ALL 6 talon cards face-down sight-unseen and discards 6 face-down. Asymmetric VP per Possert: success +5, failure −10. Announced from Vorhand directly (ends bidding immediately if Vorhand opens with it).
• Farbendreier (Farberldreier) — Color Three. TRUMP OVERRIDE: tarocks are NOT trump — they are a fifth suit and do NOT beat plain-suit cards. Follow-suit (Farbzwang) applies; if no suit-card, must play tarock. Tarock cannot be led until the leader has no plain-suit cards left. Declarer takes 3 talon cards, but tarocks may NOT be discarded. If after pickup the declarer has 6+ tarocks in hand, the contract is automatically lost (and cannot be Kontra'd).
• Farbensolo (Farberlsolo) — Color Solo. Like Farbendreier (tarocks are NOT trump) but with NO talon — both halves go to opponents. Same Farbzwang and tarock-led restrictions apply.
• Bettler — Negative contract. Declarer must take ZERO tricks. Talon untouched (goes to opponents). Stichzwang ON. Trump still exists (tarocks beat plain suits). The Pagat (I) may only be played as the LAST card in the declarer's hand; exception: if the Mond (XXI) and Sküs are both already led to the current trick, the Pagat captures via Märchen. Declarer leads first.
• Bettler ouvert — Bettler with declarer's hand played FACE-UP. Declarer leads first; thereafter the trick winner leads. After the declarer plays each card, the 3 defenders may show each other their cards and discuss. Declarer cannot see defenders' hands.
• Picolo — Negative contract. Declarer must take EXACTLY 1 trick. Talon untouched. Stichzwang ON. The Sküs may NOT be played by the declarer (it would force a trick win). Pagat-as-last-card rule applies as in Bettler. Declarer leads first; if multiple players announce a Picolo, the first-to-announce leads.
• Picolo ouvert — Picolo with declarer's hand face-up. Defenders may show each other their cards and discuss after a defender has led for the first time. Declarer cannot see defenders' hands.
• Zwicolo — Negative contract. Declarer must take EXACTLY 2 tricks. Per Possert this can ONLY be announced as a Zusatzansage on top of Picolo (not as a standalone bid). Stichzwang ON; talon untouched.
• Tricolo — Negative contract. Declarer must take EXACTLY 3 tricks. Per Possert this can ONLY be announced as a Zusatzansage on top of Picolo. Stichzwang ON; talon untouched.
• Trischaken (Trischak) — Vorhand-only contract; all-vs-all (no declarer/partner). LOSER = the player with the MOST card_points; loser pays 5 base. Modifiers: ×2 if loser has >35 card_points; ×2 if Vorhand is the loser (modifiers stack multiplicatively, max 4×). Player with ZERO tricks at end of round is credited with the loser's base loss as a positive (Contras NOT included in this credit). Stichzwang ON. Talon untouched at deal — instead, after each of the first 6 tricks one talon card is added face-up to the trick (after the winner is determined) and counts toward that winner's card_points. Self-contra is allowed: a player who Kontras themselves doubles their own loss.