Cards4Couples
Medium · 3/5Beating gamesRussia / Ukraine / Belarus

Durak (Perevodnoy)

Also known as Transfer Durak, Perevodnoy Durak

The classic Russian 'fool' game where you attack your opponent with cards they must beat, drawing back up to six after each bout. This transfer variant adds a twist: instead of defending, you can bounce an attack back by playing a matching rank. The last player left holding cards loses.

You'll need: A 36-card pack (A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 in each suit), ace high.

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Objective

Get rid of all your cards. The last player still holding cards is the loser (the 'Durak').

Setup

  1. 1Deal six cards to each player.
  2. 2Turn the next card face up; its suit is trumps for the whole deal. Place the remaining stock on top of it, leaving the trump card visible underneath.
  3. 3The player with the lowest trump usually attacks first.

How to play

  • The attacker plays a card face up. The defender must 'beat' it by playing a higher card of the same suit, or any trump (a trump can only be beaten by a higher trump).
  • After the first attack card is dealt with, the attacker (and, in multiplayer, others) may throw in more cards, but only of ranks already present in the bout, up to six cards total.
  • If the defender beats everything, all those cards are discarded out of play. If the defender cannot or will not beat them, they pick up all the cards on the table.
  • After each bout, players draw back up to six cards from the stock (attacker first), while the stock lasts.
  • If the defender beat the attack, they become the next attacker; if they picked up, the attack passes onward.

The transfer rule

  • The distinctive feature: instead of beating the attack, if the defender holds a card of the SAME RANK as the attack card, they may play it to 'transfer' the whole attack to the next player, becoming the attacker themselves.
  • The new defender may in turn add another equal-rank card to pass it along further.
  • You cannot transfer an attack onto someone who does not have enough cards left to defend it.
  • Once an attack card has been beaten, that attack can no longer be transferred.

Scoring

Scored in games won

Good to know

  • There is no point score — you simply avoid being the last one holding cards. Track a games-won (or games-lost/'fool') tally.

Winning

You 'win' by emptying your hand and going out. In a two-player game the first to shed all cards wins and the other is the Durak.

Game mechanics referenced from pagat.com (John McLeod); rules text is our own wording.

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