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Tressette or Tresette is a 40-card,
trick-taking A trick-taking game is a card game, card- or tile-based game in which play of a ''Hand (card games), hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of ...
card game A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including famil ...
. It is one of
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
's major national card games, together with
Scopa (; ) is an Italian card game, and one of the three major national card games in Italy, the others being and . It is also popular in Argentina and Brazil, brought in by Italian diaspora, Italian immigrants, mostly in the variation. is also p ...
and
Briscola Briscola (; ; ; ) is one of Italy's most popular games, together with Scopa and Tressette. A little-changed descendant of Brusquembille, the ancestor of briscan and bezique, Briscola is a Mediterranean trick-taking ace–ten card game for two t ...
. It is also popular in the regions that were once controlled by the Italian predecessor states, such as
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, coastal
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Slovene Littoral The Slovene Littoral, or simply Littoral (, ; ; ), is one of the traditional regions of Slovenia. The littoral in its name – for a coastal-adjacent area – recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg possess ...
) and coastal
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
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Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...
and
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
). It is also played in the
Canton of Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts and its capital city is Bellinzo ...
with a French-suited deck. The
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n game
Trischettn Trischettn or Treschetten is an old card game from the South Tyrol for two players. The game is clearly an Austrian variant of Tresette, the major differences being that it is played with a 32-card, German-suited pack rather than a 40-card Italia ...
as historically played in
South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...
is also a derivative, albeit played with a 32-card German-suited deck. It is recorded only from the early 18th century, though greater antiquity is suggested by its lack of
trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. The name of the game, literally "three seven," may refer to seven sets of three or four point possibilities when a minimum of three each (three, two, ace or all of those together in a matching suit) are dealt, or to the fact that it is played up to twenty-one. According to Cäsar (1800), the name is derived from "''Tre Sett''" (three sevens) because, at that time, a player holding three sevens could declare them immediately and win the game (''Partie''). There are many variants depending on the region of Italy where the game is played.Oxford Dictionary of Card Games, David Parlett, pg. 311–312 – Oxford University Press 1996


Overview

Tressette is played with a standard Italian 40-card deck and the cards are ranked as follows from highest to lowest: 3-2-Ace-King-Knight-Knave and then all the remaining cards in numerical order from 7 down to 4. The game may be played with four players playing in two partnerships, or in heads-up play. In either case, ten cards are dealt to each player. In one-on-one play, the remaining twenty cards are placed face down in front of both players. The object of the game is to score as many points as possible until a score of 21 is achieved. Players must follow suit unless that suit does not remain in their hand, and players must show the card they pick up off the card pile to their opponent.


Scoring

Points are scored by collecting the face cards (King, Knight, Knave), threes, and twos; each of these cards scores one third of a point. An ace scores one point on its own. Each player can only score an integer number of points; the thirds of point "in excess" go to the player who scored the last trick. There are points in a deck; with the point for the last trick that makes a total of points available. The match continues until a score of 21 is achieved.


Strategy


Basic strategy

Basic strategy in tressette revolves around gathering as many Aces as possible because they are worth three times the value of any one face card. As such, players typically attempt to "strip" their opponent of the Three and Two in the suit in which they themselves hold an Ace; at that time, the ace may be played safely and a point scored in their favour. Hence, when holding several lower ranked cards in a suit plus the ace you may play the lower ranked cards in the hope your opponent is forced to play the three or two of the suit allowing you to play the ace. Obviously, holding Ace, Three and Two of a suit (called a "Napolitana", "Napoletana" or a "Napoli") is a particularly powerful holding as it allows you to play the Ace with impunity, careful not to surrender it to an off-suit card. As picking up the last hand garners a point, players try to organize their card play for this purpose near the end of a round.


Partner interaction

When playing in partnerships, any verbal communication between partners regarding the game is considered cheating, unlike in
briscola Briscola (; ; ; ) is one of Italy's most popular games, together with Scopa and Tressette. A little-changed descendant of Brusquembille, the ancestor of briscan and bezique, Briscola is a Mediterranean trick-taking ace–ten card game for two t ...
(oral tradition has it that "tressette was invented by four mutes, briscola was invented by four liars"). There are, however, three conventional signs that can be exchanged between partners: ''Busso'' ("Knocking"): The player knocks or raps on the table. This sign can be used only by the first player of the trick. It instructs that player's partner to play the highest-ranked card of the suit being played, in an attempt to win the trick. If the partner does win the trick, that partner is supposed to play any card of the same suit. This strategy allows a player who has a strong card in a suit (i.e. a 2 or 3) to check whether their partner has the other one, without risking to play both cards on the same trick (thus squandering one high-rank card) and keeping the flow of the game under their control. ''Volo'' ("Flying"): The player lets the card drop or "fly down" from a few centimeters above the table. This sign signifies that the player has just played their last card of this particular suit. ''Striscio'' or ''Liscio'' ("Sliding"): The player slides the card across the table before playing it. This sign signifies that the player has many cards of that suit (where the exact implications of "many" depend on the context, e.g. the number of cards of that suit still in play or the number of cards each player still has). In some regional variants the use of this sign is deprecated and considered as illegitimate as speaking openly.


Variations


Napolitana

Also called ''Tresette con l'accuso'' (meaning: ''Tressette with accuso''), it is one variation scored up to 31, which uses bonuses during game play. When you gather three aces, three twos, three threes or any Napolitana (a same suit grouping of an ace, three and two) and decide to play one of the group of cards, you declare that you have such a grouping (called a ''buon gioco'', meaning: ''good play'') in your hand and score three points. A group of four (four threes, twos, aces) scores four points. As well, the bonus may be repeated if having played one of the grouping, you happen to pick up a card that makes the grouping in your hand yet again. To keep track of all this, players traditionally turn one card in their collected cards face up, as it is done in
scopa (; ) is an Italian card game, and one of the three major national card games in Italy, the others being and . It is also popular in Argentina and Brazil, brought in by Italian diaspora, Italian immigrants, mostly in the variation. is also p ...
.


Ciapanò

''Ciapanò'' (meaning "don't collect", or more literally "take not", in several northern Italian dialects), also known as ''traversone'' in Central Italy and as ''ko manje'' or ''chi fa meno'' (literally "who makes the fewest oints) in Croatia and Montenegro, is a variation where the goal is to score the ''fewest'' points. The game ends when a player has 21 or more points, and the player with the fewest points wins. It is possible to do ''"cappotto"'', i.e. collecting all the 11 points, in which case the player scores 0 points and everybody else scores 11. Ciapanò can be played by more than two players: if the players are 4 or 5 each one plays on their own, and they receive 10 or 8 cards respectively. If the players are 2, the normal rules apply. If the players are 3, two players receive 13 cards and the one at the right of the dealer is dealt one more card. Before starting to play, the player chooses one of their cards and passes it to the player at their right, who takes it and then passes one of their cards to the last player. The last player puts then one of their cards aside, to be taken by the player who wins the last trick. One of the regional variants to Ciapanò involves a special score for one of the cards (usually the ace of clubs) of ''eleven'' points, that is more than all the other scoring cards combined. The game ends when a player reaches 101 points, and the other rules are unchanged.


Trešeta

Trešeta is a variant very popular on
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n
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coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...
, particularly in
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
, as well as on the Coast of Montenegro, particularly in the
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. It is played using the standard Italian 40-card deck. It can be played one-on-one but most commonly it is played by two pairs of players where partners are seated opposite of each other. The main difference from the Italian version is that it is usually played until a player or two partnered players reach 41 points, opposed to the 21 points usually required in Tressette. Also, the player that scores the last trick is rewarded with a full point and not of a point. Otherwise, point value of card are identical to Italian version. The cards that score point (Kings, Horses, Knights, Threes and Twos) are most commonly referred to as ''bele''. Having three threes, twos or aces, or three highest ranked cards (Ace, Two, Three) of the same suit in hand is known as ''akuža''. When a player gets an akuža, three points (or four if they have all four threes, twos or aces) are immediately added to their total score. However, akuža must be announced before the player has played their first card. The Croatian variant is played in a clockwise order, while in Montenegro the counter-clockwise order is used.


See also

*
Briscola Briscola (; ; ; ) is one of Italy's most popular games, together with Scopa and Tressette. A little-changed descendant of Brusquembille, the ancestor of briscan and bezique, Briscola is a Mediterranean trick-taking ace–ten card game for two t ...
*
Piquet Piquet (; ) is an early 16th-century plain-trick card game for two players that became France's national game. David Parlett calls it a "classic game of relatively great antiquity... still one of the most skill-rewarding card games for two" but ...
*
Trappola Trappola is an early 16th-century Republic of Venice, Venetian trick-taking card game which spread to most parts of Central Europe and survived, in various forms and under various names like Trapulka, Bulka and Hundertspiel until perhaps the midd ...
*
Trischettn Trischettn or Treschetten is an old card game from the South Tyrol for two players. The game is clearly an Austrian variant of Tresette, the major differences being that it is played with a 32-card, German-suited pack rather than a 40-card Italia ...
*
Truc Truc, pronounced in France and in Spain, is a 15th-century bluff and counter-bluff trick-taking card game which has been likened to poker for two. It is played in Occitania, Sarthe (where it is known as ''trut''), Poitou (''tru'') and the Basqu ...


References

{{Reflist


Literature

* Cäsar, Julius (1800). ''Neuester Spielalmanach''. Berlin.


External links


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18th-century card games Italian card games Card games involving signalling