German whist is a variant of classic whist for two players in which the reward for winning the first 13 tricks is to add a particular card to your hand. Also called Chinese whist, it is probably of British origin.
There are several variations of this game, the most important difference between them being whether all 26 tricks count or only the last 13. The game is a skillful one, as in the second half both players can calculate exactly which 13 cards the opponent has, and plan their play based on that knowledge.
Name
As well as German whist, the game goes under a variety of other names including Chinese whist and honeymoon whist. In Sweden the game is sometimes known as hamburger whist after the German city of Hamburg, not to be confused with humbug whist (humbugwhist) which is a Swedish two-hand whist played with two blinds which may be exchanged by the players at the start of a hand.
History
German whist is a specific two-hand game that appears to originate in England. It should not be confused with the term "German whist" which is used generically to describe the culture and tactics of whist in Germany and also to describe whist packs sold in Germany. For example, Alexander Stephens in Johnson's Cyclopædia uses it to describe a four-hand variant of whist that was current in Germany in the late 19th century, while "Portland" uses it to refer to the "bolder" way the Germans played whist compared with those in Britain.
The specifically two-hand game of German whist was apparently popular "at Vienna among the diplomats" in the late 19th century. Its rules are recorded as early as 1894 in the London periodical, Home Notes, in which the winner is the one who takes the majority of the 26 tricks, scoring in points their difference in tricks. Three years later, it appears in America in R.F. Foster's Encyclopedia of Games.
Rules
Players and cards
German whist is a two player game using a standard pack of 52 cards ranked A (high) K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 (low) in each suit.
The deal
The initial dealer is chosen by cutting the pack, and the turn to deal alternates after each hand. The dealer offers the pack to the non-dealer for cutting before dealing 13 cards, one at a time, non-dealer receiving first. The twenty-seventh card is placed face-up on the talon, i.e. the face-down pack. The suit of this first upcard becomes the trump suit for the entire hand.
The play
The non-dealer chooses any card to play for the first trick and the other player must follow suit if able.
If both cards are the same suit then the higher card wins. If they are of different suits the first player wins unless the second player played a trump to a side suit card, in which case the trump wins.
In the first stage of the game, the winner of each trick takes the face-up card and adds it to his or her hand, the loser then takes the face-down card below it without showing it to the opponent. The next card in the pack is then turned over and the winner plays first in the next trick. Thus the winner of the trick always gets a card known to the loser, while the loser of a trick receives a card unknown to the winner. The face-up card on the Talon has no part in the play of each trick. Each player stays with 13 cards in hand until the pack is exhausted.