LabritZole
By David Clark
Zole (or the diminutive Zolîte), is a three player Latvian
trick-taking card game.
The Players
There are three active players. Normally, one will be in a
contract against the other two in partnership. If four play, the
dealer gives himself no cards. It must be agreed whether he will
pay or receive along with the partnership or take no part in the
payments. In Leicester (ref 5) the fourth was involved in the
payments.
The Cards
The twos, threes, fours, fives and sixes are removed from an
ordinary 52-card French-suited pack. In all suits but diamonds
the sevens and eights are also removed, leaving 26 cards,
fourteen of which will become trumps.
Ranking of the Cards
The Queens, Jacks and diamonds are trumps. In trumps the cards
rank (from highest to lowest):
Queen of Clubs,
Queen of Spades,
Queen of Hearts,
Queen of Diamonds,
Jack of Clubs,
Jack of Spades,
Jack of Hearts,
Jack of Diamonds,
Ace of Diamonds,
Ten of Diamonds,
King of Diamonds,
Nine of Diamonds,
Eight of Diamonds,
Seven of Diamonds.
In the other suits they rank:
Ace, Ten, King, Nine.
The point values of the cards in tricks
Each Ace 11, each Ten 10, each King 4, each Queen 3 and each Jack
2 making a total of 120.
The Deal
The dealer shuffles the cards and gives them to the player on his
right to cut. He either cuts or raps the cards with his knuckles
to signal that there will be no cut. Dealer then gives a packet
of four cards to each participant, starting with the player on
his left. Next he deals a two card talon to the table. Finally he
deals a second packet of four cards to each participant. The
players now have 8 cards each.
The next dealer is the player on his predecessor’s left.
The Contracts
Starting with the player on the dealer’s left, each player in
turn (clockwise) has a single opportunity to pass or to offer to
play.
If he offers to play he may either pick up the talon or announce
Solo - “Zole” in Latvian.
There is an additional optional contract Small Solo, “Mazâ
zole,” an undertaking to take not a single trick. The Latvian
Zolîte Game Federation (LZSF) does not admit this variant to its
1996 tournament rules. My written sources do not make it
clear whether a bid of Small Solo can overcall an offer to play
an ordinary game or Solo. The Leicester players did not play this
variant.
Playing the ordinary game is an undertaking by a player to win at
least 61 points after having picked up the talon, without showing
it to his opponents, and discarded any two of his resulting 10
card holding. Points on cards in his discard count to himself.
Solo is an undertaking by a player to win at least 61 points
using only the cards in his original hand - any points on the
cards in the talon count to his opponents. His opponents combine
their tricks.
It is also possible to bid Solo “in the dark”, without having
looked at one’s own cards. Naturally this is most often done by
the third to speak when two passes suggest his opponents probably
have weak cards. This will be paid (win or lose) at double the
rate for a normal Solo.
If all three should pass there are two possibilities. If the game
is being played “with pools” the cards are thrown in and the
next dealer deals. This is normal. If however the less common
“with the small table” variant is being played then the hand
is played out with each player having the objective of taking as
few tricks (not points) as possible.
The Play
The player on the dealer’s left leads to the first trick.
Thereafter the lead to each trick is made by the winner of the
previous trick.
A player on lead may lead any card he chooses. The next players
in turn clockwise must follow suit if they are able, failing
which they may trump or discard another suit as they see fit.
There is no obligation to head the trick.
The trick is won by the highest ranking card of the led suit if
no trumps have been played in the trick. If trumps have been
played then the highest ranking trump in the trick wins.
Surrender
Declarer has the right to surrender before the 3rd trick is led
to and pay as if he had made at least 31 but fewer than 61
points. The defenders do not have any right to end a game early.
If one offers to surrender this is binding on his partner, but
declarer can insist the game be played out.
Scoring
The score is usually kept on paper, one column for each player
plus another column for the total in the pools. However it is
easier to describe the movement of counters (or coins).
In an ordinary game:
if declarer takes at least 61 but fewer than 91 points he wins 1
counter off each opponent;
if declarer takes at least 91 points but not all the tricks he
has put his opponents in jan and wins 2 counters off each;
if declarer takes all the tricks he wins 3 counters off each
opponent;
if declarer takes at least 31 but fewer than 61 points he pays 2
counters to each opponent;
if declarer takes at least one trick but fewer than 31 points he
is himself in jan and pays 3 counters to each opponent;
if declarer takes no trick at all he pays 4 counters to each
opponent.
In a Solo game:
if declarer takes at least 61 but fewer than 91 points he wins 5
counters off each opponent;
if declarer takes at least 91 points but not all the tricks he
wins 6 counters off each opponent;
if declarer takes all the tricks he wins 7 counters off each
opponent;
if declarer takes at least 31 but fewer than 61 points he pays 6
counters to each opponent;
if declarer takes at least one trick but fewer than 31 points he
pays 7 counters to each opponent;
if declarer takes no trick at all he pays 8 counters to each
opponent.
Variant: at Leicester the scores for a won Solo were all one
higher than above.
In a Small Solo game:
if declarer takes no trick he wins 6 counters off each opponent.
if declarer takes any trick at all he pays 7 counters to each
opponent.
Pools
If it has been agreed to play with pools there are additional
payments as well as those listed above, but only in the ordinary
game.
If all three passed then there is no play and the next dealer
deals anew, but a token representing a “collective pool” is
placed on the table.
If, while there is at least one pool on the table, declarer in an
ordinary game (but not a Solo or Small Solo) loses he places a
token representing a “personal pool” where it can be
identified as his.
If declarer in an ordinary game, but not a Solo nor a Small Solo,
wins and there is “money in the bank”, i.e. there is at least
one pool on the table then
a) if there is a “personal pool” of his own then he retrieves
it but takes no extra counters.
or
b) if there is no “personal pool” of his own but there is a
“collective pool” on the table he removes it and collects one
extra counter from each opponent.
or
c) if there is neither a “collective pool” nor a “personal
pool” of his own then he retrieves another player’s
“personal pool” and collects three counters off its owner (or
four if there is a fourth player involved in the payments).
The order in which the pools are used is a matter of etiquette
but does not affect the arithmetic.
This whole procedure is arithmetically equivalent to putting
actual coins or counters on the table - and at Leicester this was
done. A winner then simply picks up three or, if there is a
fourth person involved in the payments, four and a loser puts
down three or four respectively. If a hand is passed out then
each player contributes one to create a new pool.
Small Table
If however the game is being played without pools and all three
passed, then the cards are played out and the player taking most
tricks pays two counters to each other player. If two take equal
numbers of tricks, the website says the one with more points
pays. (The website did not explain how a tie for points would
be resolved). Ref (7) said that if two tied for most tricks,
both paid.
Ref (6) gave three variants. One was as above but paying one to
each, the next was paying one per trick to each and the third was
to play to avoid having most points. In this version the
first two tricks are four card tricks, led to by the talon and
forehand leads to the third. The player with most points pays
“at the rate for a normal game, jan or no tricks”,
which is of course an incomplete explanation of the penalties. Nor
is it explained what happens if the talon wins a trick, but by
analogy with Preference I suspect that if the talon wins a trick
the points in it count against a sitting-out dealer (if there is
one and he is taking part in the payments) or are otherwise out
of play.
Sources used :
1) Rules on www.zole.net
2) FAQs on the same site.
3) “Kârđu Spçles”, ISBN 5-87434-003-3 and ISBN
5-89965-059-1, Rîga. These are 1991 reprints of a 1931 original,
“by Emanuel Lasker and others”; the second ISBN refers to a
version not including patiences and soothsaying. Zole is
described s.v. “Revelîts”, a name unknown both to
Mulenbach’s dictionary (begun 1934, relevant volume 1938) and
to the librarian at the Latvian Academic Library
4) correspondence with Mrs. Baiba Kangere
5) games played 31 May 2003 at the Estonian club in Leicester, UK
6) “Zolîte Latvijâ un Pasaulç”, 1996, Andris Kolbergs,
ISBN 9984-08-004-8, Rîga
7) “Pirmasis padalijimas”, 2001, Albinas Borisevičius, ISBN
5-415-01463-2, Vilnius
10 December 2003 Anthony Smith
