| Penneech | |
| Subtitle: | "A jolly little two hander" |
| Image Link: | File:French Portrait card deck - 1816 - 7 of Diamonds.jpg |
| Image Caption: | The Penneech |
| Type: | plain-trick game |
| Players: | 2 |
| Play: | Alternate |
| Num Cards: | 52 |
| Deck: | English pattern, French-suited |
| Origin: | England |
| Playing Time: | 12-15 min. |
| Footnotes: | Unique feature: trumps change with each trick |
Penneech or peneech, sometimes called penicth,[1] is an unusual historical English card game for two players played with hands of seven cards. English point-trick games are rare anyway, but the unique feature of this game is that the trump suit changes with each trick. Parlett describes it as a "jolly little two-hander".
Penneech was alluded to in Pepys Ballads, II, 98 (1625-1640) by Samuel Pepys,[1] but its rules were first described by Charles Cotton in the 1674 and first edition of The Compleat Gamester,[2] and repeated in all subsequent editions until 1754. There are no other descriptions of the game, although it is mentioned in passing by Holme in 1688[3] and described as "a game formerly in use" in 1822.[4]
Card games historian David Parlett notes that English point-trick games are rare[5] and knows of no other game in which the trump suit changes from one trick to the next. He tested it extensively in order to reconstruct the rules.
A standard 52-card pack of English pattern, French-suited cards is used with Aces ranking high.
The following is a description based on Cotton's rules, supplemented by Parlett who tested the game extensively:[6] [2]
Players cut for the first deal, the lower card winning (Aces low for this purpose).[6] The dealer deals 7 cards each, individually, and turns the next for trumps,[2] placing the rest face down as the stock. A player with no Aces nor face cards may throw in his cards for a fresh deal.[7]
Elder hand leads to the first trick.[6] The second player to a trick may either follow suit or trump, but may only discard if unable to follow.[6] The trick winner turns the next card of the stock for trump[2] and pegs its value (see below) if it is a counter before leading to the next trick. The winner of the last trick turns the next card of the stock and likewise scores for it if it is a counting card.[6]
Players score for cards won in tricks, for turning a counter as trumps and for turning a counter after the last trick is taken. An Ace is worth 5 points, a king 4, a queen 3 and a knave 2. The 7, called penneech, is the highest card when diamonds are trumps and is worth 14 points when turned or 7 points in the hand.[2] If diamonds are not trumps it has no scoring value, but still ranks as the highest diamond. Players also score 1 point per card taken in excess of seven. Game is 61 points.[2]
Parlett recommends using a cribbage board for scoring.[6]