Fildinsky
Rules for Polish Bézique

Fildinski is a card game for two players. Fildinski is a member of the Bézique family, and is more often known by the name ‘Polish Bezique’. What sets this variation apart from other card games of the Bézique family is that melds are made from cards won in tricks, rather than cards held in hand. Because Fildinsky is a fast moving game with plenty of opportunities to score points, it is recommended that you use counters to score as points are added during the course of play.

The Cards

Take two standard decks of English playing cards and remove all the 6’s and down. That will give you a deck of 64 cards, with two each of A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7 in each suit.

Cards Rank

For the purposes of trick taking, cards rank A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7.

The Deal

Each player is dealt 8 cards in batches of two and three, turning the next card face up to determine trumps. This card is left face up and protruding from the bottom of the stock so that both players can see it.

The Play

Left of the Dealer leads first, and thereafter the winner of the trick leads to the next. After each play, beginning with the winner of the trick, each player draws a card from the top of the stock to restore his/her hand to eight cards again.

The Rules

Fildinski has two distinct stages of play. So long as there are cards left in the stock to be drawn, there is no obligation to follow suit to the card led. Players may follow suit, trump in or discard as they so choose. However, the trick is still won by the highest trump played to it. If no trumps are played, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit led.

Declarations

Declarations are not made in the same manner as Bezique. Instead, the winner of the trick scores 10 each for any Aces or Tens (brisques) it contains. During the course of play, players leave the tricks they have won face up in front of them. Melds are made solely from the cards which are won in tricks, and never from cards held in one’s hand. Thus, as a player wins a trick, he/she may form a meld from the cards they have won in the trick, combined with any cards they have won from previous tricks. At each turn, a player may make two melds only, no more. Only the winner of the trick may make melds in this way. Thus, an important impetus to winning tricks is the right to form a meld and score for it. Customarily, 8s and 9s are simply thrown aside as they have no melding potential, but the player keeps all his/her other cards in front of him/her.

Once a card is used in a meld, it cannot be used again. It can only ever be used in one meld.

The Following Melds can be Made:

The Deece

The first player to win in a trick with the 7 of trumps, scores 10 for it, and may exchange it for the upturned trump protruding from the bottom of the stock. The second player to win in a trick with the other 7 of trumps, also scores 10 for it, but will not have the opportunity to exchange it with the upturned trump card if this has already occurred.

The End Game

The winner of the last trick as the stock is exhausted scores 10 points for it. Now there are no cards left in the stock to draw from, the last eight tricks follow these strict rules:

• You must follow suit to the card led, and you must try to win the trick by playing a higher card
• If you can’t follow suit, then you must trump in.
• If you can’t follow suit, and you can’t trump in, only then can you play any card
• The trick is won by the highest trump played to it. If no trumps are played, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit led.
• If two identical cards are played to the same trick, the trick is won by the card led

During the play of these last eight tricks it is still legal to make declarations as described above.

Game

Fildinski is played over several hands to a grand total of 2000 points.

L I N K S

Cards and Dominoes – The Bezique Family