How to play Thousand

Thousand (Тысяча) is one of the best-loved card games in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, played around kitchen tables, on trains and in dormitories for generations. Three players race to 1000 points with a short 24-card pack. Each deal starts with an auction for the three hidden cards of the prikup, and the winner must then make the points promised, while the other two players join forces to stop them. Marriages of king and queen bring big points and change the trump suit in the middle of play, and house rules like the barrel and the dump truck keep every game tense to the end.

How to play on skill.games

When you open the game, the settings appear. Choose a difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard or Crazy) and two house rules: the barrel and the dump truck, both on by default. Then press PLAY.

• The table: you sit at the bottom, Pyotr on your left and Olga on your right. Play goes clockwise: you, Pyotr, Olga. A "D" marks the dealer. During the bidding the prikup lies face down in the middle.
• The top band: the status line says whose turn it is. One chip shows the three totals in each player's colour (a ◆ marks a player on the barrel), the other the contract: the trump suit (or "No trump"), the bid and who made it.
• Bidding: on your turn a panel opens above your hand. Set the number with minus and plus (steps of 5) and press BID, or PASS. Each player's last call shows in a bubble by their name.
• The prikup: when you win the auction the prikup is turned up for everyone and joins your hand. Tap a card to give it to Pyotr, then one for Olga. A second panel lets you keep or raise your bid and press PLAY, or CONCEDE to give the deal up.
• Playing: tap a card or drag it onto the table. Playable cards are lifted, and a card that isn't allowed shakes while the status line explains why. From the second trick on, a king or queen whose partner is in your hand glows when you lead: leading it declares the marriage.
• Points: the badge by each name shows the points taken in the current deal.

After each deal a score sheet shows every player's card points, marriages, points, what the deal added to each total, bolts and any barrel or dump-truck events; press NEXT DEAL to continue. The menu button in the top-left corner pauses, starts a new game or turns the sound off, and the "?" opens this guide. The game is saved as you play, so you can press CONTINUE later.

Rules

The cards. Thousand uses 24 cards, the nine to the ace of each suit. Within a suit they rank ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine. Card points: ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2, nine 0, 120 in all.

The deal. Each player gets seven cards and three go face down to the prikup. If a player is dealt all four nines, the same dealer deals again. The deal passes to the left.

Bidding. The player on the dealer's left must open with 100. Then, in turn, each player either bids at least 5 more or passes, and a player who passes is out of the auction for this deal. Bidding ends when two players have passed; if both others pass straight away, the opener plays for 100. You may bid more than 120 only if you hold a marriage, and never more than 120 plus the marriages in your hand.

The prikup. The highest bidder becomes the declarer. The prikup is shown to everyone and added to the declarer's hand, and the declarer gives one card face down to each opponent, so everyone holds eight. The declarer may then raise the contract, again up to 120 plus the marriages held, or concede.

Conceding. Rather than play a contract they can't make, the declarer may concede after seeing the prikup. The declarer loses the bid and each opponent scores half of it, rounded up to 5.

The play. The declarer leads to the first trick and the winner of each trick leads the next. You must follow suit; if you can't, you must play a trump if you have one; otherwise you may play anything. There is no duty to win the trick. There is no trump at all until the first marriage is declared.

Marriages. A king and queen of the same suit in one hand form a marriage: spades 40, clubs 60, diamonds 80, hearts 100. From the second trick on, the player on lead declares it by leading the king or the queen. The marriage's points go to that player and its suit becomes trump from that trick on; a later marriage changes the trump again.

Scoring. The declarer adds their card points and marriages. If the total reaches the contract, the declarer scores the contract; if not, the contract is subtracted. Each opponent scores their own points rounded to the nearest 5 (23 counts 25, 22 counts 20).

Bolts. An opponent of the declarer who takes no points at all in a deal gets a bolt. Every third bolt costs 120 points.

The barrel. A player who reaches 880 stops there and sits on the barrel. On the barrel, points as a defender don't count; to win, the player must become declarer and make a contract of at least 120. A failed contract drops the player off the barrel, and three deals on the barrel without winning cost 120. A player arriving on the barrel knocks the one already there off with a 120 penalty, and two players arriving in the same deal both fall back by 120.

The dump truck. A total of exactly 555 (or minus 555) goes back to zero.

Winning. The first player to reach 1000 wins. With the barrel on, that can only happen from the barrel.

Strategy tips

• Bid on what the hand can take. Count your sure tricks and marriages, and remember that the prikup can help but can also give you nothing.
• A marriage is worth bidding on. Hearts or diamonds in hand often carry a contract by themselves, and you need one to bid past 120.
• Give away your weakest cards. When you hand cards to your opponents, keep your aces, your tens with their aces and your marriages.
• Declare marriages early. You need the lead to declare, so win a trick and claim the points while both cards are still in your hand.
• Defenders work together. Against the declarer, feed points to the other defender's tricks and make the declarer use trumps.
• Watch the barrel. A player at 880 is one good deal from winning: bid them out of the prikup when you can.
• Concede when it pays. Losing the bid and giving half to each opponent can cost less than playing a hopeless contract.

Difficulty levels

• Easy: bids by rough feel, forgets the cards gone and often plays a careless card.
• Normal: tests its hand in many imagined deals before bidding, remembers what has been played, declares marriages and plays solid cards: it cashes masters, trumps when it should and feeds its fellow defender.
• Hard: also imagines many possible hands for the other two players before every card, consistent with everything they have shown, and plays each option out to find the best.
• Crazy: the strongest: far more imagined deals for every bid and card, and a sharper sense of when a contract is worth the risk.

Game options

• Barrel: on, the rules above apply at 880; off, the first player past 1000 wins.
• Dump truck: on, a total of exactly 555 goes back to zero; off, 555 is just a score.

Statistics are kept for each difficulty.