Editing Trick-taking game (section)

==History==
The earliest [[card game]]s were trick-taking games, as evidenced by the rank-and-[[Suit (cards)|suit]] structure, originating from China and spreading westwards during the early part of the second millennium. [[Michael Dummett]] noted that these games share various features. They were played without [[trump (card games)|trumps]], following suit was not required but only the highest card of the suit led wins, rotation was counter-clockwise, they were plain-trick games, and the [[pip card]]s of one or more suits were in reverse order so that the lower cards beat the higher ones.<ref name="DummettGame">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qqm1AAAAIAAJ |title=The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City |isbn=9780715610145 |last1=Dummett |first1=Michael A. E |last2=Mann |first2=Sylvia |year=1980}}</ref> 

Two revolutions in European trick-taking games led to the development of ever more sophisticated card games: the invention of trumps, and the requirement of following suit to constrain their power, in the 15th century; and [[bidding]] in the 17th century.

According to card game researcher [[David Parlett]], the oldest known European trick-taking game, [[Karnöffel]], was mentioned in 1426 in the Bavarian town [[Nördlingen]] – roughly half a century after the introduction of playing cards to Europe, which were first mentioned in Spain in 1371.<ref>{{harvnb|Parlett|1990|pages=35, 164}}.</ref> The oldest known game in which certain cards have additional privileges is Karnöffel, where specific ranks of one suit were named ''Karnöffel, Devil, Pope'' etc. and subject to an elaborate system of variable powers. However, these were not trumps in the sense of a suit whose cards uniformly beat all other suit cards.<ref>{{harvnb|Parlett|1990|pages=163–165}}.</ref> 

Around 1440 in Italy,  special cards called ''[[Trionfi (cards)|trionfi]]'' were introduced with such a function. These special cards are now known as ''tarots'', and a deck augmented by tarots as a [[tarot]] deck. The trionfi/tarots formed essentially a fifth suit without the ordinary ranks but consisting of trumps in a fixed hierarchy. One can get a similar effect by declaring all cards of a fixed or randomly determined suit to be trumps. This method, originating with [[triomphe]], is still followed by a number of modern trick-taking games that do not involve an auction.<ref>{{harvnb|Parlett|1990|pages=163–165}}.</ref> 

Trumps were retroactively added to some games, such as [[trappola]]. It is much rarer for trumps to be removed.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=McLeod|first1=John|title=Playing the Game: Austrian Calling Games|journal=[[The Playing-Card]]|date=2013|volume=41|issue=4|pages=235–238}}</ref><ref>McLeod, John. [http://www.pagat.com/marriage/anrufen.html#graden Königrufen (Graden)] at [[pagat.com]]. Retrieved 25 January 2016.</ref> The invention of trumps became so popular that very few European trick-taking games exist without them. This did not stop the two-handed [[piquet]] from becoming the most popular card game in Europe during the 16th century. Parlett suggests the invention of trumps let players in games involving more than two a greater chance of heading a trick.<ref>{{harvnb|Parlett|1990|pages=180}}</ref>

[[File:The Four Friends Playing Hombre.JPG|thumb|"The Four Friends Playing Ombre", 1888, by Malthe Engelstedt]]
The invention of bidding for a trump suit is credited to [[ombre]], the most popular card game of the 17th century. Rather than having a randomly selected trump suit, players can now hold an auction for it. The most popular game of the 18th-century was tarot which experienced a great revival.<ref>{{harvnb|Parlett|1990|page=300}}.</ref> During this time, many tarot games were borrowed bidding over the stock ([[taroc l'hombre]]). In the 20th century, [[whist]], now with bidding and the dummy hand, developed into [[contract bridge]], the last global trick-taking game.

The practice of counting tricks, in plain-trick games, may have originated in the counting of cards won in tricks. It was therefore a logical development to accord some cards a higher counting-value, and some cards no value at all, leading to point-trick games. Point-trick games are at least as old as tarot decks and may even predate the invention of trumps. [[Elfern]] and [[Fünfzehnern]] are possible candidates, although the earliest references date to the 18th century. Nearly all point-trick games are played with tarot decks or [[stripped deck]]s, which in many countries became standard before 1600. Neither point-trick games nor stripped decks have a tradition in England.

While there are a number of games with unusual card-point values, such as [[trappola]] and [[all fours (card game)|all fours]], most point-trick games are in the huge family of [[ace–ten card games]] beginning with [[brusquembille]]. [[Pinochle]] is a representative of this family that is popular in the United States. Other examples include [[belote]] and [[Skat (card game)|skat]].

In contrast to Europe, Chinese trick-taking games did not develop trumps or bidding. They diverged into multi-trick games where melds can only be beaten by other melds provided they have the same number of cards. During the [[Qing dynasty]], these multi-trick games evolved into the earliest draw-and-discard games where the players' objective was to form melds and "go out" rather than capture the opponents' cards. [[Khanhoo]] is an example of a multi-trick game that became a draw-and-discard game.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Berry|first1=John|title=Chinese Money-Suited Cards|journal=[[The Playing-Card]]|date=2003|volume=31|issue=5|pages=230–235}}</ref> Multi-trick games are also probably the source for climbing games like ''[[Zheng Shangyou]]'' and ''[[dou dizhu]]'', which first appeared during the [[Cultural Revolution]].