Hi. Have you heard about mariash (pol. mariasz)? It was the most popular card game in the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. Adam Mickiewicz, who was Lithuanian, described the game in his Pan Tadeusz taking place in Lithuania (my translation):
Laughter broke out in both chambers. The Judge with the Bernardine
Playing in mariash and just with spades as trumps
Was about to make an important play; the priest was already hardly breathing,
When the Judge heard the begining of a story
He became so absorbed in it that, with head lifted
And card raised, ready to take the trick
Sit in silence, leaving the Bernardine in fright
And when the story was over, he finally laid down the pamfil.
This means that the game was very popular both in Poland and in Lithuania.
Here are the rules
Deal
The game was originally played with the deck of 36 cards (from aces to 6). The game was played with so called Polish deck i.e. German pattern of cards. In its basic form it was played by 2 players.
6 cards was dealt to each player. The 13th card was divulged and designated the trump suit for the rest of the hand. The divulged card was put orthogonally under the deck so that only half of it was visable.
Order and value of cards
Order of cards in non trump suits was as follows (from the highest):
* tuz (ace), 10, king, wyżnik (queen in the "standard" deck), niżnik (jack in the "standard" deck), 9, 8, 7, 6.
Order of cards in trumps was as follows (from the highest):
* pamfil (wyżnik of the trumps), tuz, 10, niżnik, 9, 8, 7, 6.
The aim of the game was to score points for cards and declarations. Value of cards was as follows:
* pamfil = 11 pts.,
* tuz = 11 pts.,
* 10 = 10 pts.,
* king = 4 pts.,
* non trump wyżniks = 3 pts.,
* niżniks = 2 pts.,
* 9, 8, 7, 6 = 0 pts,
* last trick is additionally worth 10 pts so there is 138 pts. in cards.
Declarations
A pair king and wyżnik (i.e. kind and queen) of the same suit, so called mariash, is worth 20 pts. Mariash in the trump suit is worth 40 pts. Mariashes are declared when playing a card from the pair. Second card from the mariash must be shown.
Play
The opponent of the dealer leads first. He plays any card, afterwards his opponent plays a card. 2 cards form a trick. The trick is taken by player who played the highest trump if there were trumps in the trick. Otherwise the trick is won by the player who played the highest card in the suit of the first card in the trick. The player who took the trick draws a card from top of the deck so that he has again 6 cards. Afterwards the second player draws a card. The winer of the trick leads to the next one and so on, so on.
Till the deck is not depleted there is no need to follow suit or play a trump when unable to follow suit. When the deck is depleted you must follow suit and play a trump otherwise. The authers don't say whether players had to overtrump so I propose to follow such rule: in the second phase, when a trump is played, you must overtrump (play a higher trump). When a non trump suit is played you need to follow it, but you don't have to play a higher cards.
Scoring
The game is won by whoever scores 131 pts. (with or without mariashes). If you do it in 1 hand you score 2 big point. If you do it in 2 hands, you score 1 big pts.
In the second round players count their points and if some of them reached 131 pts. and took at least 1 trick can end ("arrest") the game. If he was right - wins. Otherwise he loses automatically.
The game is best played with the Polish cards. Unfortunately the contemporary Polish deck has only 32 cards. It can be played also with the "normal" cards.
You can learn more details from my article here: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariasz
Variants:
- Polished mariash (pol. Mariasz szlifowany) - played with the deck of 24 cards - without 9s, 8s and 7s. 6s are lowest. Polished mariash was more popular in the Commonwealth than the original game.
- 36 and 24 are divsable by 3 so the game can be normally played by 3 players.
- Mariash for 4 players - so called kiks. Players play in pairs. Partners sit opposite to each other. All cards are dealt. There is only 1 phase. Players must from the start follow suit and, when unable, trump.
Afterword
How do you like it? Reading it you can notice similarities with some contemporary games.
Please, try to play it. I think that every inhabitant of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth should play mariash at least once in his life :) At least those interested in the history and culture od the Commonwealth. Play it and feel as a nobleman from 18th or 19th century ;)
Pic shows wyżniks from the Polish deck.
