Rules
Court Piece rules for two players
Court Piece (also called Coat Piece) is the Indian trump game. Twine plays it head to head: one of you calls trumps after seeing only five cards, and the first to win seven tricks takes the deal.
Setup
- One full 52-card pack. Aces are high, twos are low.
- The caller gets five cards and so does the other player. Sixteen more are set aside for later, and the other 26 stay face down out of play, so neither of you can count the whole pack.
- Looking only at those five cards, the caller names any of the four suits as trumps. They don't have to hold that suit.
- Each of you then gets eight more cards, for thirteen each.
How a round works
- The caller leads the first trick. After that, whoever wins a trick leads the next.
- You must follow the suit that was led if you can. If you can't, play any card: a trump or a throw-away.
- The highest trump wins the trick. With no trump in it, the higher card of the suit led wins.
- Every trick counts straight away for whoever won it. The deal ends the moment one of you has seven tricks; the rest of the cards are not played.
Scoring and winning
- If the caller takes the deal, the caller scores 1 point.
- If the other player beats the caller, they score 2 points and become the caller for the next deal. A caller who wins keeps calling.
- A court — winning the deal while the other player takes no tricks at all — scores 4 points, whoever called.
- The first to 5 points wins the match.
Play it with your partner on Twine
Twine deals, keeps score and enforces every rule above. Play live on a call, or with Play Anytime: take your turn now and your partner takes theirs whenever suits them, wherever they are.
Questions
How many cards does each player get in two-player Court Piece?
Thirteen: five before trumps are called and eight after. The rest of the pack is set aside face down and never played.
Does the caller have to hold the trump suit?
No. The caller can name any of the four suits after looking at their first five cards.
What is a court?
Winning a deal while your opponent takes no tricks. On Twine a court scores 4 points instead of 1 or 2.
How long is a game?
The match goes to 5 points, so it takes at least two deals and usually a handful more.