Mariáš

How to play Mariáš

Mariáš is the most popular card game in the Czech Republic and Slovakia — a point-trick game of the Marriage family whose name is a Czech spelling of the French mariage, the King-and-Queen meld at its heart. This is volený mariáš ("chosen Mariáš"): the forehand picks the trump suit and plays alone against the other two in partnership. You take turns being that soloist, against two bots — or play online against real people.

Play Mariáš online with friends

Choose Play online to be matched with real opponents for a live three-hand game, or share a private invite link so your own group can sit down together. It all runs in the browser — no account, no app — and the server keeps every bid, marriage and trick in sync for all three players.

The cards

A 32-card Czech pack — here drawn with French suits, with the Over shown as the Queen and the Under as the Jack. With a trump suit, every suit ranks, high to low, Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8, 7 — note the ten sits second, just under the ace. The aces and tens are the "sharp" cards worth 10 points each; a further 10 points go to the winner of the last trick, making 90 in the cards.

Trump and the talon

The forehand is dealt twelve cards and each opponent ten. Looking at the hand, the forehand names a trump suit, then buries two cards face down as the talon — those points count for the forehand at the end — and leads to the first trick. (The bots do this automatically on their turn; you do it when it is your deal.)

Marriages and play

• When you are on lead holding the King and Queen of a suit, play the Queen first to declare a mariáš: 40 points in the trump suit, 20 in any other.
• You must follow the suit led and beat the card that is winning the trick if you can — even when your own partner is winning it. If you are void of the led suit you must trump, and over-trump if a trump is already down.
• The highest trump wins the trick, or, with no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led.

Scoring

The soloist wins the deal by taking more points than the other two together. Settlement is in units: 1 for a plain win, doubled to 2 for a "hundred" (the winning side reaching 100), plus 1 for the "sedma" — winning the very last trick with the trump seven. A hearts trump doubles everything. The first player to 10 units wins the game.

Strategy

As the soloist, pick the long suit where you hold top cards, keep your aces and tens out of the talon, and lead trumps first to strip the defenders before you cash your aces. Save a King-Queen pair until you are on lead, then declare the Queen. As a defender, work with your partner: grab the soloist's points when you can win the trick, and throw your sharp cards onto a trick your side is already taking. Tap a card to play it; legal cards are highlighted. N starts a new game.