Ligurian:
# Taròcchi à pessigo: zeugo ligure pe doî zugoei

Sta variante do zeugo di taròcchi, pe doî zugoei, a se distingue pe-a vivessa de partie, ma ascì pe l’originalitæ de seu mecaniche de zeugo. I taròcchi à pessigo (diti ascì «chinze» in zeneise) conservan unna struttua generale pægia à quella di atri zeughi de taròcchi liguri, ma con de differense fondamentale che arregòrdan çerte variante do treisette.

Un scinçeo graçie à Romano R. e Patrizia C. de Zena pe avei scompartio con generositæ e regole do zeugo, e ascì a-i atri zugoei che an fornio de testimonianse preçiose in sce variante locale de sta tradiçion de zeugo. Dimmo graçie ascì a-o Jonathan K. e a-o Samuele P. pe-a seu scignificativa contribuçion à l’amegioamento de sta pagina.

# Contegnui

Noçioin de base

Masso

Carte de conto

Moen

Distribuçion

Execuçion

Preise

O Matto

Pescâ da-o muggio

Boñe

Bagatto urtimo

Ponti

Carcolo

Comme marcâ i ponti

# Noçioin de base

# Masso

O masso o l’é fæto de 78 carte: 14 carte pe ciascheduña de 4 merse (coppe ♥, dinæ ♦, scioî ♣ e spoæ ♠)[^1]; 21 trionfi numeræ da l’1 a-o 21; e o Matto (★, ch’o l’à o numero 0 inte çerti massi). E carte de quattro merse en, in ordine crescente, 1, 2, …, 9, 10, sbiro (J), cavallo (C), dònna (Q) e òmmo (K).[^2] I trionfi guägnan in sce tutte e atre carte e, tra de lô, o guägna pe-o sòlito quello co-o numero ciù erto. A sola ecceçion a l’é dæta da-o Giudiçio (trionfo №20), ch’o guägna delongo in sciô Mondo (trionfo №21). O Matto a l’é unna carta particolâ ch’a no peu guägnâ nisciuña carta ni ëse guägnâ.

## Carte de conto

Inti zeughi de taròcchi çerte carte, dite «carte de conto», an un valô intrinseco pe-o carcolo di ponti:

## Moen

O zeugo o se dividde inte «moen», ch’en e fase de zeugo tra unna distribuçion de carte e quella apreuvo. Unna partia de taròcchi à pessigo a l’é fæta de uña ò ciù tante moen, pe-o sòlito doe.

## Distribuçion

O ròllo do massê, a-o comenso assegnou à sciòrte, o s’alterna tra i zugoei inte moen apreuvo. Dòppo avei remesciou e carte e avei fæto coppâ o masso à l’avversäio, o massê o dà chinze carte à ciaschedun. E carte chi resta, misse coverte e da arente, forman o «muggio».

# Execuçion

## Preise

Comme pe-o treisette e o bridge, e moen de partie à taròcchi en fæte de unna sequensa de «preise». Unna preisa a l’é a fase de zeugo inta quæ ciaschedun zugou o calla unna carta. Pe-a primma preisa o l’é in attacco (saieiva à dî, o calla a primma carta) l’avversäio do massê. O zugou in defeisa o replica, con callâ lê ascì unna carta. Pe-e preise apreuvo a-a primma, o zugou ch’o guägna unna preisa o vëgne o zugou in attacco pe quella apreuvo. O guägna a preisa o zugou ch’o l’à callou o trionfo ciù erto, con dâ a mente a-o fæto che o Giudiçio (trionfo №20) o guägna delongo o Mondo (trionfo №21). Se no l’é stæto callou di trionfi, o guägna o zugou ch’o l’à callou a carta ciù erta da mersa d’attacco. O vinçitô o l’arrecheugge e doe carte in töa e o ê poñe, coverte, inte un muggetto da arente à lê. Inte preise, o zugou in attacco o l’é delongo libero de callâ unna carta chesesegge; incangio, o zugou in defeisa o l’à da anâ apreuvo à ste regole chì da basso.

Se a carta callâ in attacco a l’é de uña de quattro merse (coppe, dinæ, scioî ò spoæ) e o zugou o l’à de carte de quella mersa, o l’à da callâne uña chesesegge da mæxima mersa. S’o no l’à de carte de quella mersa, o l’à da callâ un trionfo chesesegge. So n’o l’à manco un trionfo, o peu callâ unna carta chesesegge.

Se a carta callâ in attacco a l’é un trionfo e o zugou o l’à di trionfi, o l’à da callâne un.[^3] S’o no l’à di trionfi, o peu callâ unna carta chesesegge.

## O Matto

A sola ecceçion a l’à da fâ co-o Matto: o zugou ch’o l’à sta carta o peu delongo callâla into seu turno, sensa avei da anâ apreuvo a-e regole chì de d’ato. O matto o no peu guägnâ unna preisa, ma o no l’é manco cattuou: o zugou ch’o l’à callou o ô piggia inderê e o ô poñe, descoverto e pe traverso, into seu muggetto de carte cattuæ. Se o Matto o l’é callou in attacco, o zugou in defeisa o l’é libero de callâ unna carta chesesegge, e o guägna a preisa. Se o Matto o l’é callou in defeisa, o zugou in attacco o guägna a preisa.

Dæto che o zugou ch’o l’à callou o Matto o l’arresta con unna carta de ciù (pe aveilo «sarvou» da unna preisa stæta persa), o l’avià dapeu da dâ à l’avversäio unn’atra carta in cangio[^4]. O l’avià donca da guägnâ uña ò ciù tante preise dòppo quella inta quæ l’é stæto callou o Matto (un proçesso dito «crovî o Matto») e dâ à l’avversäio unna carta chesesegge tra quelle stæte cattuæ inte ste preise; stæta dæta a carta, o Matto o peu ëse giou. Se o no l’arriësce à guägna manco unna preisa apreuvo a-a callâ do Matto, a-a fin da man o l’avià da dâ o Matto à l’avversäio.

## Pescâ da-o muggio

Dòppo ciascheduña preisa, i zugoei, un apreuvo à l’atro, à partî da quello ch’o l’à guägno a preisa, pescan unna carta da-o muggio. Sta chì a ven mostrâ à l’avversäio avanti d’ëse azzonta a-a man. I zugoei van avanti co-e preise, con pescâ tutte e vòtte unna carta da-o muggio, fin à quande o muggio o finisce. Dapeu, i zugoei van avanti à zugâ e carte chi gh’é arrestou fin a-a fin da man.

## Boñe

I zugoei peuan, se gh’é cao, annonçiâ d’avei inte moen çerte combinaçioin dite «boñe», e ottegnî in sciô momento un bonus de ponti:

À differensa de atri zeughi de taròcchi, inti taròcchi à pessigo i zugoei peuan annonçiâ e seu boñe no solo che a-o comenso da man (avanti d’avei zugou a seu primma carta) ma ascì tutte e vòtte che pescan unna carta da-o muggio.

L’annonçio de boñe o no l’e obrigatöio, ma o l’é neçessäio pe ottegnî i ponti che gh’en assoçiæ. Un zugou ch’o veu annonçiâ unna boña o l’à da fâlo con mostrâ e carte che â compoñan à l’avversäio. A-i zugoei l’é permisso d’annonçiâ ciù de unna boña, ascì con addeuviâ e mæxime carte pe de compoxiçioin despæge (pe exempio, un òmmo de coppe o peu contribuî a-o mæximo tempo a-a «famiggia de coppe» e a-o «terno d’òmmi»). E boñe che no en stæte annonçiæ no peuan ëse preteise dòppo. Pe-a boña di «trionfi», o Matto o no l’é tegnuo pe un trionfo.

Se un zugou, dòppo avei annonçiou «trionfi», o s’attreuva inte moen un numero ciù erto de trionfi, o peu «incrementâ» a boña, con guägnâ i ponti che correspondan a-a differensa. Pe fâ un exempio, conscideremmo o caxo de un zugou ch’o l’agge inte un primmo momento ottegnuo 11 ponti pe un annonçio de «11 trionfi». Se dapeu o peschesse un atro trionfo e o l’avesse tegnuo inte moen i 11 za stæti annonçiæ, o porrieiva annonçiâ «12 trionfi», con asseguâse un ponto de ciù. O mæximo mecaniximo o s’addeuvia pe unna boña de «terno» e apreuvo un «quaterno» pe-a mæxima figua.

## Bagatto urtimo

Unna regola opçionale a permette l’assegnaçion de di ponti in azzonta pe-o «Bagatto urtimo»: se un zugou, ch’o l’à o Bagatto (trionfo №1), o ô calla à l’urtima preisa, e o â guägna, o l’ottëgne 20 ponti; se incangio a tentativa a fa pillo e a preisa a l’é fæta da l’avversäio, saià l’avversäio à guägnâ i 20 ponti [6] .

# Ponti

## Carcolo

Stæta finia a man, i zugoei contan i ponti finali, ch’en dæti da-a somma di ponti «de masso», de boñe, e de un poscibile «Bagatto urtimo».

Pe-i ponti de masso, i zugoei contan un ponto pe preisa stæta guägnâ (saieiva à dî, un ponto pe ògni doe carte stæte cattuæ) ciù i ponti de carte de conto stæte cattuæ [^7] . A somma di punti de masso di doî zugoei a saià delongo 91 ponti (52 pe-e carte de conto, ciù un ponto pe ciascheduña de 39 preise).

Pe formâ o totale finale, a-i ponti de masso s’azzonze i ponti de boñe stæte annonçiæ e i poscibili ponti pe un «Bagatto urtimo».

## Comme marcâ i ponti

I ponti en marcæ in scê un papê, inte unna töa, con unna colònna pe zugou. Se tia unna riga orizzontale pe spartî e moen.

L’exempio mostrou o representa doe moen de unna partia à taròcchi à pessigo. Inta primma man, o zugou A o l’à ottegnuo 10 ponti pe un annonçio de «10 trionfi» e o n’à dapeu ottegnuo atri 2 pe un annonçio de «12 trionfi». O zugou B o l’à ottegnuo 10 ponti pe unna «famiggia de spoæ» e 20 ponti pe un «Bagatto urtimo». O primmo zugou o l’à guägno 46 ponti de masso, o segondo 45. Inta segonda man, o primmo zugou o l’à ottegnuo 10 ponti pe un annonçio de «gatti» e 58 ponti de masso. O segondo zugou o l’à ottegnuo 5 ponti pe un «terno de cavalli», con l’azzonta de atri 5 ponti pe un «quaterno de cavalli» apreuvo, e 33 ponti de masso.

# Nòtte

[^1]: ↑ I massi de taròcchi ciù antighi, comme quelli marseggeixi ò quelli diti pe convençion liguri-piemonteixi ò piemonteixi, addeuvian e quattro merse latiñe (coppe, dinæ, bastoin e spoæ). L’é ascì diffuso, però, i massi co-e merse franseixi (cheu, quaddri, scioî e picchi), come into caxo do tradiçionale masso zeneise da 40 carte e do ciù reçente **taròcco zeneise**. A distinçion tra e merse latiñe e quelle franseixi a l’é solo che estetica e a no l’influensa e mecaniche de zeugo. Inte sto regolamento, pe convençion, s’addeuvia e merse franseixi. Arregordemmo ascì che à Zena l’é assæ commun addeuviâ i nommi tradiçionali de merse latiñe pe-e merse franseixi ascì: «coppe» pe-i cheu, «dinæ» pe-i quaddri, «spoæ» pe-i picchi.

[^2]: ↑ À livello stòrico, a dispoxiçion de carte numerale a cangiava in base a-a mersa. Inte merse dite curte (coppe e dinæ), a gerarchia de carte numerale a l’ea inversa respetto à quella d’ancheu: o 10 o l’ea a carta ciù debole, con apreuvo in ordine crescente 9, 8, ..., 2, 1 e e figue into seu ordine de sempre (sbiro, cavallo, dònna e òmmo). E merse longhe (scioî e spoæ), incangio, aveiva l’ordine crescente convençionale, con l’1 pe carta ciù debole. Sta prattica distintiva, ancheu anæta feua de deuvia e ch’a no l’à d’effetti in scê mecaniche de zeugo, a no l’é addeuviâ inte sto regolamento pe mantegnî l’uniformitæ e a sempliçitæ de zeugo.

[^3]: ↑ Segondo unna variante, segnallâ da solo un zugou inte nòstre reçerche, in replica à un trionfo zugou in attacco beseugna callâ, se o se n’à un, un trionfo con valô de preisa ciù erto. O l’é interessante nottâ che sta mecanica a l’é presente inti zeughi de taròcchi franseixi ascì.

[^4]: ↑ A regola do «scangio» descrita chì a l’é stæta registrâ tra i zugoei stæti intervistæ inta zöna de Speçia e de l’Ôtrazovo, e a l’é ascì documentâ da G. Berti, M. Chiesa e T. Depaulis, _Antichi tarocchi liguri-piemontesi_, Lo Scarabeo, 1995. Ben che sta prattica a no l’é ciù diffusa à Zena, gh’é di elementi che fan pensâ ch’a pòsse ëse a modalitæ originäia de deuvia do Matto into zeugo. Sta mecanica particolâ a l’introduxe unna fòrte componente strategica: i zugoei en incoraggiæ à attrovâ o megio momento pe callâ o Matto, con equilibrâ o dexidëio de mascimizzâne l’effeto e o reisego de no poei ciù guägna de preise (co-a conseguente perdia do Matto) ò d’avei da dâ de carte de valô erto into scangio. Sta dinamica a contribuisce à creâ unna tenscion tattica ch’a l’inricchisce ben ben l’esperiensa de zeugo.

[^5]: ↑ A prattica de «boñe» a presenta ben ben de variabilitæ tra i varri gruppi de zugoei de taròcchi in Liguria. Ciù into detaggio, a boña di «gatti» a l’é pöco in deuvia à Zena; a boña do «terno» a l’é stæta osservâ pe-a ciù parte tra i zugoei de l’Ôtrazovo. A çernia de boñe presentæ inte sto regolamento a l’é stæta cuâ con unn’intençion doggia: offrî unna vixon d’insemme ch’a represente e tradiçioin de zeugo da Liguria e, into mæximo tempo, creâ un scistema de zeugo equilibrou, ch’o fasse demoâ, e strategicamente ricco. A validitæ e l’equilibrio de sta çernia en stæti validæ co-o preçioso aggiutto do Jonathan Kandell e do Samuele Pasi; a seu esperiensa a l’à permisso d’affinâ un scistema de zeugo ch’o l’azzonze representativitæ stòrica e fonçionalitæ ludica.

[^6]: ↑ A regola do «Bagatto urtimo», ben ch’a l’é conosciuta da varri zugoei liguri tra quelli intervistæ inte nòstre reçerche, a l’é pöco addeuviâ a-a giornâ d’ancheu. Se pensa che into passou a fïse ciù in deuvia, comme l’é testimoniou da-a seu mençion inte l’euvia de G. Berti, M. Chiesa e T. Depaulis, _Antichi tarocchi liguri-piemontesi_, ibid. , e inte quella do F. Cason, _Les jeux de cartes à Nice_, in «Armanac Nissart» , 1930, pp. 288-290. A seu incluxon comme regola opçionale a l’é conseggiâ pe l’importante profonditæ tattica ch’a pòrta a-o zeugo.

[^7]: ↑ L’existe ciù de unna mainea de contâ i ponti de masso inti zeughi de taròcchi. Se pensa che o scistema descrito inte sto regolamento o segge o ciù antigo e, ben ch’o l’é addeuviou delongo ciù de ræo, o l’é de seguo quello ch’o se peu mostrâ a-i neòfiti ciù de lengê. Sto metodo o l’é documentou ascì pe-i zeughi di taròcchi pratticæ à Nissa, da F. Cason, _Les jeux de cartes à Nice_, ibid . Un scistema alternativo o prevedde l’assegnaçion de di valoî despægi a-e carte de conto (5 ponti pe-i òmmi, 4 pe-e dònne, etc.) e de contâ e carte inte di gruppi de doî, trei ò quattro (segondo e tradiçioin locale ò e preferense di zugoei; o metodo o ciù frequente o prevedde de contâ e carte inte di gruppi de træ carte). Sta proçedua a peu, inte çerti caxi, portâ à di carcoli despægi di ponti, ma a no l’à unna gròssa influensa inte mecaniche de zeugo; a l’é ben ben ciù complessa e a no l’é donca descrita into detaggio chì. Pe unn’analixi approfondia di varri metodi de carcolo di ponti inti zeughi de taròcchi, se conseggia l’euvia de M. Dummett e J. McLeod, _A history of games played with the tarot pack_, Edwin Mellen Press, 2004.

English translation:
# “Pinch” Tarot: a two-handed Ligurian tarot game

This tarot game, for two players, stands out for the engaging nature of the matches, but also for the originality of its game mechanics. Pinch tarot (in Genoese Ligurian also called _chinze_) maintains a general structure similar to that of other Ligurian tarot games, with certain fundamental differences that are reminiscent of some variants of tressette.

We wish to express sincere thanks to Romano R. and Patrizia C. from Genoa for generously sharing the rules of the game, as well as to the other players who have provided valuable testimonies on the local variants of this game. A special acknowledgement goes to Jonathan K. and Samuele P. for their significant contribution to the improvement of this page.

# Contents

Basic Concepts

Deck

Counting Cards

Hands

Deal

Gameplay

Tricks

The Fool

Drawing from the Stock

Melds

Bagatto Ultimo

Scoring

Computing the Score

How to Mark the Score

# Basic Concepts

# Deck

The deck consists of 78 cards: 14 cards for each of the 4 suits (hearts ♥, diamonds ♦, clubs ♣ and spades ♠)[^1]; 21 trumps numbered 1 to 21; plus the Fool (★, which has the number 0 on some decks). The cards of the four suits are, in ascending order, 1, 2, …, 9, 10, Jack (J), Cavalier (C), Queen (Q) and King (K).[^2] The trumps beat all other cards and, among themselves, the trump with the higher number usually wins. The only exception is represented by the Judgment (trump №20), which always beats the World (trump №21). The Fool is a special card that cannot beat any card nor be beaten.

## Counting Cards

In tarot games, some cards, called “counting cards”, have an intrinsic value for scoring purposes:

## Hands

The game is divided into “hands”, which are the phases of play between one card distribution and another. A game of pinch tarot consists of one or more hands, typically two.

## Deal

The role of dealer, initially assigned by draw, alternates between players in subsequent hands. After shuffling the cards and having the opponent cut the deck, the dealer deals fifteen cards to each player. The remaining cards, placed face down on the side, constitute the “stock”.

# Gameplay

## Tricks

Just like in tressette and bridge, each hand of a tarot game consists of a sequence of “tricks”. A trick is the phase of play in which each player plays a card. For the first trick, the dealer’s opponent leads (i.e., plays the first card). The defending player responds by playing another card. For tricks following the first one, the winner of a trick becomes the player on lead for the next one. The player who played the highest trump wins the trick, keeping in mind that the Judgment (trump №20) always beats the World (trump №21). If no trumps were played, the player who played the highest card of the suit which was led (the suit of the first card of the trick) wins. The winner collects the two cards on the table and places them face down in a pile next to them. In each trick, the player who leads is free to play any card, while the player who follows must adhere to the following rules.

If the card that was led is of one of the four suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs or spades) and the player has cards of that suit, they must play any card of the same suit. If they have no cards of that suit, they must play any trump. If they don’t have trumps either, they may respond with any card.

If the card that was led is a trump and the player has trumps, they must play one.[^3] If they have no trumps, they may play any card.

## The Fool

The only exception concerns the Fool: the holder of this card always has the right to play it during their turn, without having to respect the aforementioned rules. The Fool cannot win a trick, but it is not captured either: the player who played it takes it back and puts it, face up and sideways, in their pile of captured cards. If the Fool is led to a trick, the other player is free to play any card, and wins the trick. If the Fool is played as the second card, the player on lead wins the trick.

Since the player who played the Fool is left with one extra card (having “rescued” it from a lost trick), they will later have to give the opponent another card in its place[^4]. They will therefore have to win one or more tricks after the one in which the Fool was played (a process called “covering the Fool”) and give the opponent any of the cards captured in these tricks; once the card has been given, the Fool can be turned face down. If they fail to win at least one trick after playing the Fool, at the end of the hand they will have to give the Fool to the opponent.

## Drawing from the Stock

After each trick, the players, in turn, starting with the winner of the trick, draw a card from the stock. This is shown to the opponent before being added to the hand. Players continue to play tricks, drawing a card from the stock each time, until the stock is exhausted. Subsequently, players continue to play the remaining cards until the end of the hand.

## Melds

Players can, if they wish, announce the possession of certain combinations called “melds”, immediately obtaining a point bonus:

Unlike other tarot games, in pinch tarot players can announce their melds not only at the beginning of the hand (before having played their first card) but also every time they draw a card from the stock.

The announcement of melds is not mandatory, but it is necessary to obtain the related points. A player who intends to announce a meld must do so by showing the cards that compose it to the opponent. Players may announce multiple melds, even using the same cards for different ones (for example, a king of hearts can contribute simultaneously to both the “family of hearts” and the “four kings”). Undeclared melds cannot be claimed later. For the “trumps” meld, the Fool is not considered a trump.

If a player, after declaring “trumps”, finds themselves in possession of a greater number of trumps, they have the option to “increase” the meld, earning the points corresponding to the difference. To illustrate, let’s consider the case of a player who initially obtained 11 points for a meld of “11 trumps”. If they subsequently drew an additional trump and had kept the 11 already declared in hand, they could announce “12 trumps”, securing an additional point. The same mechanism applies to a meld of “three-of-a-kind” followed by a meld of “four-of-a-kind” for the same face card.

## Bagatto Ultimo

An optional rule awards additional points for “Bagatto Ultimo”: if a player, in possession of the Bagatto (trump №1), plays it in the last trick, winning it, they obtain 20 points; however, if the attempt fails and the trick is won by the opponent, it will be the opponent who obtains the 20 points [6] .

# Scoring

# Computation

At the end of the hand, players tally up the final score, given by the sum of the so-called “deck points”, the melds, and a possible “Bagatto Ultimo”.

For the “deck points”, each player counts one point for each trick taken (i.e., one point for every two cards captured) plus the points of the counting cards which they captured [^7] . The sum of the “deck points” of the two players will always be 91 points (52 for the counting cards, plus one point for each of the 39 tricks).

To form the final score, players must add the points of the declared melds and the points for Bagatto Ultimo (if applicable) to the “deck points”.

## How to Mark the Score

The score is marked on a sheet of paper, in a table, with a column for each player. A horizontal line is drawn to separate the hands.

The example shown above represents two hands of a pinch tarot game. In the first hand, player A obtained 10 points for a meld of “10 trumps” and later obtained another 2 for a meld of “12 trumps”. Player B obtained 10 points for a “family of spades” and 20 points for a Bagatto Ultimo . The first player totaled 46 deck points, the second 45. In the second hand, the first player obtained 10 points for a meld of Gatti and 58 deck points. The second player obtained 5 points for “three cavaliers”, with the addition of another 5 points for a subsequent “four cavaliers”, and 33 deck points.

# Footnotes

[^1]: ↑ Older tarot decks, such as the Tarot of Marseilles or those conventionally called Ligurian-Piedmontese or Piedmontese Tarot, use the four Latin suits (cups, coins, batons and swords). However, the use of decks with French suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades) is also widespread, as in the case of the traditional 40-card Genoese deck and the more recent **Genoese tarot**. The distinction between Latin and French suits is merely aesthetic and does not affect the game mechanics. In this ruleset, French suits are adopted by convention. It should also be noted that in Genoa it is common to use the traditional names of the Latin suits even for the French suits: coppe for hearts, dinæ for diamonds, spoæ for spades.

[^2]: ↑ Historically, the order of the numerical cards varied according to the suit. In the so-called short suits (cups and coins), the hierarchy of the numerical cards was inverse to the current one: 10 was the weakest card, followed in ascending order by 9, 8, …, 2, 1 and the face cards in their usual order (jack, cavalier, queen and king). The long suits (batons and swords), on the other hand, followed the conventional ascending order, with 1 as the weakest card. This distinctive practice, has fallen into disuse and has no impact on the game mechanics; as such, we do not adopt it in this ruleset to preserve uniformity and simplicity of play.

[^3]: ↑ A variant, reported by only one player during our research, requires that in response to a led trump, the defending player must play, if they have one, a trump with a higher capture value. It is interesting to note that this mechanic is also present in French tarot games.

[^4]: ↑ The “exchange” rule described here was found among the players interviewed in the La Spezia and Oltregiogo areas, and is also documented by G. Berti, M. Chiesa and T. Depaulis, _Antichi tarocchi liguri-piemontesi_, Lo Scarabeo, 1995. Although this practice is no longer widespread in Genoa, there are elements that suggest it may be the original way of using the Fool in the game. This particular mechanic introduces a significant strategic component: players are encouraged to identify the optimal moment to play the Fool, balancing the desire to maximize its effectiveness with the risk of subsequently failing to win tricks (resulting in the loss of the Fool) or having to give up high-value cards during the exchange. This dynamic contributes to creating a tactical tension that greatly enriches the gaming experience.

[^5]: ↑ Melds can vary considerably between different groups of tarot players in Liguria. In particular, the “gatti” meld is not very widespread in Genoa; the “three-of-a-kind” meld was observed mainly among players in the Oltregiogo region. The selection of melds presented in this ruleset has been curated with a dual intent: to offer a representative overview of Ligurian gaming traditions and, at the same time, to create a balanced, fun and strategically rich game. The effectiveness and balance of this selection have been validated with the valuable contribution of Jonathan Kandell and Samuele Pasi, whose experience has allowed the refinement of a system that combines historical representativeness and game functionality.

[^6]: ↑ The “Bagatto Ultimo” rule, though it is known to various Ligurian players interviewed during our research, is currently rarely used in Liguria. It is believed that in the past it enjoyed greater diffusion, as evidenced by its mention in the work of G. Berti, M. Chiesa and T. Depaulis, _Antichi tarocchi liguri-piemontesi_, ibid. , and in that of F. Cason, _Les jeux de cartes à Nice_, in “Armanac Nissart” , 1930, pp. 288-290. Its inclusion as an optional rule is recommended for the appreciable tactical depth it brings to the game.

[^7]: ↑ There are several methods for counting “deck points” in tarot games. It is believed that the system described in this ruleset is the oldest and, although it is gradually falling into disuse, it is certainly the simplest to explain to new players. This method is also documented for tarot games played in Nice by F. Cason, _Les jeux de cartes à Nice_, ibid . An alternative system involves assigning different values to the counting cards (5 points for kings, 4 for queens, etc.) and counting the cards in groups of two, three or four (depending on local traditions or players’ preferences; the most widespread method involves counting in groups of three cards). This procedure can, in some cases, result in different score calculations, but does not greatly affect the game mechanics; it is considerably more complex and is therefore not described in detail here. For an in-depth analysis of the various methods of counting points in tarot games, please refer to the work of M. Dummett and J. McLeod, _A history of games played with the tarot pack_, Edwin Mellen Press, 2004.