Checkmate
Introduction
This children's game from Jordan is related to Crazy Eights, but with no wild card that allows the player to specify suit to be played next and none of the other usual special cards. Instead the Aces have the special effect that when one is played, the player is given a King by another player - presumably the game is named after this King capture possibility. Also there are red and black Jokers that are partly wild in that they match any card of their own colour.
This page is based on information from Sultan Ratrout.
Players and Cards
There can be 2, 3 or 4 players. The game is played with a standard international 52-card pack with 2 Jokers, one red and one black - 54 cards in all.
As in many Middle Eastern games the playing area is known as the 'floor', and the game often is played on the floor, on a rectangular carpet.
The direction of play is anticlockwise.
Deal
The first dealer can be chosen by any convenient method; the turn to deal passes to the right after each hand.
Ten cards are dealt singly to each player. The remaining cards constitute the stockpile from which cards are drawn during the game. They are placed face down on the floor, not usually in a stack but fanned so that any card can be drawn, not necessarily the top one.
Play
The dealer begins by playing any card face up on the floor to begin the play pile. The player continues in anticlockwise order around the table until a player wins by running out of cards.
At their turn, each player must if possible play one card that is the same rank or the same suit as the card, placing it face up on top of the play pile. For example on the six of clubs the next player must if possible play either a club or a six.
If a player has no card that can be played on their turn, they must draw a card from the stockpile. If this card matches the top card of the play pile in rank or suit they must play it; if not they must add it to their hand.
After the player has played a card or has drawn a card that they were unable to play, the turn passes to the next player to the right.
Jokers
The red Joker can be played on any red card (heart or diamond) and any red card can be played on it. Likewise the black Joker can be played on any spade or club and any spade or club can be played on it.
Aces and Kings
Whenever an Ace is played, the player's right hand opponent must give a King from their hand to the player of the Ace. If the right hand opponent has more than one King they give one King of their choice. If the right hand opponent has no King, then the following player in anticlockwise order gives a King, if this player also has no King then the following player must give a King to the player of the Ace, or if this player also has no King the player after that must give one. The player of the Ace adds the King to their hand and then the turn to play passes to the player to the right of the Ace player.
If an Ace is played and none of the opponents of the Ace player has a King then the Ace player does not receive any card and the turn to play passes to the right as usual.
Note on Play
Although it is illegal to draw a card when you have a card that you could have played, or to keep a drawn card in your hand when it could have been played, there is no reliable way to check whether this rule has been broken. The game relies on the assumption that the players will be honest about this and follow the rules.
Endgame
A player who has only one card remaining in their hand must immediately alert the other players by saying "last card".
The play ends when a player wins by playing the last card of their hand to the play pile. There are a few special cases involving Aces and Kings.
- If a player's last card is an Ace, then playing it does not end the play if another player is able to give them the King. In this case they must accept the King, say "last card" again and play continues.
- If a player's last card is a King and they give it away to the player of an Ace, this does not end the play, since their last card was not played to the pile. When it comes to the turn of this player, who now has no card, they must draw a card from the stockpile. If it matches the top card of the play pile they play it and win; if not they must keep it and play continues.
- If a player's last card is a King, they give it to the player of an Ace and the stockpile is empty, then when it comes to this player's next turn to play, since they are unable to draw or play the play ends and the result is a draw (no winner).
Another case in which a draw occurs is if a player plays their last card to the play pile but did not warn the other players by saying "last card" as soon as their hand was reduced to one card. In this case the play ends with no winner.
There is no scoring. Players could keep a tally of how many games each has won, but in practice they do not normally do this.