Kaiserspiel

The card deck for Kaiserspiel
Origin	Switzerland
Type	Trick-taking
Players	2, 4, 6
Cards	40 or 48
Deck	Swiss deck (Kaiserspiel variant)
Play	Anticlockwise
Related games
Karnöffel, Knüffeln, Watten

Kaiserspiel, also called Kaisern or Cheisärä, is a card game, usually for 4 or 6 players, that is played in parts of Switzerland using a variant of the standard Swiss playing cards with 40 or 48 cards. It is a descendent of Karnöffel, one of the oldest known card games. ^[1] It is sometimes misleadingly called Kaiserjass, although it has nothing to do with the Jass family of games that are popular in Switzerland.

Cards

The Kaiserspiel pack comprises four suits: Shields, Roses, Bells and Acorns each of ten cards ranked as follows: King, Ober, Unter, Banner, (9), (8), 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 ( Deuce). The four Banners are normally part of the trump suit and are known as Kaisers, hence the name of the game. In the 40-card variants, the 8s and 9s are removed. There are no Aces. ^[1]

Kaiserspiel – Silenen variant

This variant is named after the village of Silenen in the Swiss canton of Uri.

Players

The game is played by 8, 10 or 12 players, divided into two teams, players from each sitting alternately at the table.

Cards

The 48 cards of a Kaiserspiel pack are used. If eight play, the 8s and 9s are removed.

Trick-taking powers

#	*	Card	Description	Other names	Translation
1	T	Trump Bauer	beats all the cards	Trump Under	Trump Under, Trump Bower
(2)	T	Trump 7	beats only, if it is led to a trick! The Trump 7 can then only be beaten by the Trump Bauer. Otherwise it is effectively worthless (see 16).
3	T	Trump 6	beats all other cards apart from the two already mentioned.	jocularly also called the Sense (Scythe), if it e. g. takes the decisive trick.	Scythe
4	T	Trump Ace	beats all other cards apart from the three already mentioned.
5	K	Blass	beats the Kings and all cards below it (even trump cards) as well as all other Kaisers.	Rosen-Kaiser (Rosen-Banner)	Rose Emperor, Rose Banner
The cards above are called Mann-beaters (Mann-Stecher) , because they are the only ones that can beat the higher-ranking Mann (the King).
6	M	Kings	this Mann only has its trick-taking powers, if it is: led to a trick played to a card of its own suit, referred to as "playing in the Mann" (in den Mann spielen). Exceptions: the Kaisers cannot be beaten by any Mann (King or Ober). They do not "fall to the Mann" (nicht in den Mann gehen) as the phrase is. likewise the Trump 3, 4 and 5 cannot be beaten by a Mann. They also do not fall to the Mann! the Trump 8 and 9 fall to the Mann. a led Trump Ober can be beaten or overtrumped by the Trump King. (prerequisite is however that only the first led card.)	Mann, König	Mann, King
7	T	Trump 3	beats every Ober and all cards below them as well as the Ober-Kaiser, Grün and Mugg. A led Trump 3 does not fall to the Mann and cannot, therefore, be beaten by the Trump King.	Oberstecher	Ober-beater
8	K	Ober-Kaiser	beats the Ober and all cards below it as well as the Grün and Mugg.	Ober-Kaiser, Schilten-Kaiser (Schilten-Banner)	Ober Emperor, Shield Emperor, Shield Banner
9	M	Obers	this Mann beats all cards of lower rank in its suit with the same rules as for the King.	Mann, Ober	Mann, Ober
10	T	Trump 4	beats the Unders that are not trumps and all cards below it as well as the Grün and the Mugg. The Trump 4 does not fall to the Mann and can therefore not be beaten by the Trump King nor the Trump Ober.	Understecher	Under-beater
11	K	Grün	beats the Unders that are not trumps and all cards below it.	Grün, Eichel-Kaiser (Eichel-Banner)	Green, Acorn Emperor, Acorn Banner
12		Under	beats all cards of lower rank in its own suit (if this suit is not trumps), the Trump 5 and the Mugg.	Bauer, Jos or Joos	Bower, Jos or Joos
13	T	Trump 5	beats the Trump 9 and 8 as well as all lower-ranking cards that are not trumps and the Mugg. The Trump 5 does not goes fall to the Mann and so can neither be beaten by the Trump King nor the Trump Ober.	Farbstecher	Suit-beater
14	K	Mugg	beats all empty cards as well as the Trump 9 and 8.	Mugg, Schallen-Kaiser (Schallen-Banner)	Mugg, Bell Emperor, Bell Banner
15		9 and 8	they have no greater trick-taking power as trumps. The Trump 9 and 8, however, fall to a Trump Mann if they are able to be led to a trick (see 6 and 9).
16		7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and Ace (2)	beat each other in this order from left to right, but only if the relevant suit is not trumps.
* card type: T = Trump, K = Kaiser, M = Mann

References

External links

• Matthew Macfadyen and Kirsty Healey, rev. John McLeod. Kaiserspiel at www.pagat.com. Retrieved 4 Jun 2018.