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]
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]
The following is a description based on Cotton's rules, supplemented by Parlett who tested the game extensively:[2][3]
Deal
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]
Play
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][a] The trick winner turns the next card of the stock for trump[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]
Scoring
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]
