Jass

Jass
Swiss Jass cards
TypePoint-trick
Players4 (variants: 2-6)
SkillsTactics & Strategy
Cards36
Rank (high→low)A K O U B 9 8 7 6
PlayCounter-clockwise
Playing time45 minutes - 1 hour
ChanceMedium
Related games
Belote • Klaverjas

Jass (German pronunciation: [ˈjas] )[1] is a family of trick taking, ace–ten card games and, in its key forms, a distinctive branch of the marriage family. It is popular in its native Switzerland as well as the rest of the Alemannic German-speaking area of Europe, Italian South Tyrol and in a few places in Wisconsin, Ohio, California, Oregon and Washington USA.[2][3]

The most common variant of Jass is Schieber (in Vorarlberg also known as Krüzjass), which is played by two teams of two players each. It is often considered Switzerland's national card game, and is so popular there that the Swiss have come to apply the name Jass to trick-taking card games in general.[4]

It is estimated that there are over 70 variants of Jass.[5] The game is so widespread in Switzerland that it is regularly featured on radio and television, for example, radio programmes by SRF1 and the weekly television programmes of Donnschtig Jass ("Thursday Jass") and Samschtig Jass ("Saturday Jass") on Schweizer Fernsehen.[6] An estimated 3 million Swiss play Jass regularly and it has been described as a Swiss national game.[7][8]

  1. ^ David Parlett The Oxford guide to card games, pg. 292-293, David Parlett (1990) ISBN 0-19-214165-1
  2. ^ Miles, Dan (19 January 1966). "Clabber or Klob – It's All Jass". The Daily Reporter. Dover, New Philadelphia. pp. 1, 8. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  3. ^ Dusini, Frank L. (12 January 1997). Jass for Beginners. Dover, Ohio.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ The game of Tarot: from Ferrara to Salt Lake City, p. 568, Michael A. E. Dummett, Sylvia Mann - 1980 ISBN 0-7156-1014-7
  5. ^ Goop (2010), p. 13.
  6. ^ Müller (2016), jacket and p. 10.
  7. ^ "Jassen" in Schweizer in Island at schweizerinisland. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  8. ^ Spielerisch Jassen lernen at agm.ch. Retrieved 14 August 2020.