Penneech

Penneech or Peneech, sometimes called Penicth,[1] is an unusual historical English card game for two players played with hands of seven cards. English point-trick games are rare anyway, but the unique feature of this game is that the trump suit changes with each trick. Parlett describes it as a "jolly little two-hander".[2]

Penneech
The Penneech
OriginEngland
Typeplain-trick game
Players2
Cards52
DeckEnglish pattern, French-suited
PlayAlternate
Playing time12-15 min.
Unique feature: trumps change with each trick

History

Penneech was alluded to in Pepys Ballads, II, 98 (1625-1640) by Samuel Pepys,[1] but its rules were first described by Charles Cotton in the 1674 and first edition of The Compleat Gamester,[3] and repeated in all subsequent editions until 1754. There are no other descriptions of the game, although it is mentioned in passing by Holme in 1688[4] and described as "a game formerly in use" in 1822.[5]

Card games historian David Parlett notes that English point-trick games are rare[6] and knows of no other game in which the trump suit changes from one trick to the next.[2] He tested it extensively in order to reconstruct the rules.[2]

Cards

A standard 52-card pack of English pattern, French-suited cards is used with Aces ranking high.[2]

Play

The following is a description based on Cotton's rules, supplemented by Parlett who tested the game extensively:[3][2]

Players cut for the first deal, the lower card winning (Aces low for this purpose).[2] The dealer deals 7 cards each, individually, and turns the next for trumps,[3] placing the rest face down as the stock. A player with no Aces nor face cards may throw in his cards for a fresh deal.[3] Elder hand leads to the first trick.[2] The second player to a trick may either follow suit or trump, but may only discard if unable to follow.[2][lower-alpha 1] The trick winner turns the next card of the stock for trumps[3] and pegs its value (see below) if it is a counter before leading to the next trick. The winner of the last trick turns the next card of the stock and likewise scores for it if it is a counting card.[2]

Players score for cards won in tricks, for turning a counter as trumps and for turning a counter after the last trick is taken. An Ace is worth 5 points, a King 4, a Queen 3 and a Knave 2. The ♦7, called Penneech, is the highest card when Diamonds are trumps and is worth 14 points when turned or 7 points in the hand.[3] If diamonds are not trumps it has no scoring value, but still ranks as the highest diamond. Players also score 1 point per card taken in excess of seven. Game is 61 points.[3]

Parlett recommends using a cribbage board for scoring.[2]

Footnotes
  1. These rules of play are the same as those of its contemporary, All Fours.

References
  1. Western Folklore (1947), p. 151
  2. Penneech at parlettgames.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  3. Cotton (1674), pp. 148/149
  4. Holme (1688).
  5. Nares (1822), p. 371
  6. Parlett (1991), p. 261.

Bibliography
  • _ (1947). Western Folklore. Californian Folklore Society.
  • 1674: The Compleat Gamester. A.M, London. Charles Cotton.
  • Holme, Randle (1688). The Academy of Armory. Vol 2, ed Jeayes, Roxburgh Club, 1905. BM C.101.h.2.
  • Nares, Robert (1822). A Glossary or Collection of Words, Phrases, Names and Allusions to Customs, Proverbs, etc. London: Triphook.
  • Parlett, David (1991). A History of Card Games, OUP, Oxford. ISBN 0-19-282905-X
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