Court Piece is a four-player card game played in two partnerships across India and Pakistan. These are the complete rules as Rung Royal plays them: first the rules every Court Piece game shares, then what changes in each game.
Single Sir, Double Sir, Hidden Rung and Be-Ranga all play by these, except where a game's own section below says otherwise.
The table
Four players in two teams of two. Partners sit opposite each other.
Play goes anticlockwise — to the right.
The deal
First hand: everyone draws a card, and the highest card chooses the trump.
Every hand after that, the player to the dealer's right chooses.
Five cards each first, then four more and four more — 13 each.
The trump is chosen from those first five cards.
Calling the trump
The chooser has 20 seconds — 10 in a player's very first game.
They may pass once, to their teammate. If their time runs out, it passes to the teammate.
The teammate cannot pass. They choose within 20 seconds, or the dealer turns a random card and its suit is trump.
Playing a trick
Follow the suit that was led if you can.
If you can't, play any card. You never have to play a trump.
The highest trump wins the trick. With no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led wins.
Whoever wins a trick leads the next one.
Scoring
Result
Points
Courts
Callers win
+1
0
Defenders win
+2
0
Callers' court
+3
+1
Goon court
+4
+3
Win 7 rounds in a row: +2 bonus points in Points, or +1 court in Courts.
Any court resets the rounds-in-a-row count.
Who deals next
The dealer's team wins: the next player deals.
The callers win without a court: the same dealer deals again.
The callers win with a court: the dealer's partner deals.
So the side that wins the round calls the trump next.
The match
The first team to the target wins — 10 points, or 3 courts, unless you change it.
A player's first three matches are played to 3 points.
Rung Royal extras
Our own additions, not traditional rules — offered offline, for watching a video.
New cards: deals you a fresh hand. Offered in every game.
Change the trump: in Single Sir, Double Sir and Hidden Rung, the caller may pick a new trump after seeing all 13 cards — before the first card is played.
Single Sir
The base game: the shared rules, and this.
Prefer to watch? Single Sir, explained in 9 minutes. Choose your language under Settings, Audio track. Watch on YouTube
Winning the round
The round ends as soon as a team has 7 tricks.
Winning the first 7 tricks straight is a court, and it ends the round.
A court by the team that called the trump is a court. By the other team, it is a goon court.
Double Sir
The pile game: a won trick goes to a pile first, and only collected tricks count. The trump is called as in Single Sir.
The pile
A won trick is not taken. It goes face down into a pile in the centre.
When the same player — not their partner — wins two tricks in a row, they collect the whole pile.
After a collection, the next trick starts a new pile. A third win in a row doesn't collect — you need two in a row again.
Tricks 1 and 2 won by the same player do collect.
Whoever wins the 13th trick takes whatever is left.
Winning the round
The round ends when a team has collected 7 tricks — unless the other team has collected none. Then play goes on.
Collecting all 13 tricks is a court. If the dealing team does it, it is a goon court.
Optional house rules
Ace on Ace: two different aces won back to back don't collect.
Trump Ace: the trump ace can't seal the pile.
No collecting on tricks 11 and 12 (off by default).
Hidden Rung
Single Sir with the trump laid face down. The round ends the same way: at 7 tricks, and the first 7 straight is a court.
The hidden trump
The caller lays one of their first five cards face down. Only the caller knows it.
Its suit becomes trump once it is shown. It can't be played while it is face down.
Any player who can't follow suit may ask for it to be shown — and must then play a trump if they have one.
The caller may also show it on their own lead, and must then lead a trump.
Trump counts only from the moment it is shown.
If nobody calls, the dealer's random card is laid face down without anyone seeing it.
If the round ends before it is shown, it is turned up for everyone to see.
Rung Royal extras
In Hidden Rung, Change the trump swaps the face-down card: the caller lays another of their first five face down in its place, and the old one goes back into their hand. Only the caller sees it, as before.
If nobody called, the first chooser counts as the caller and may swap the dealer's unseen card too: they lay one of their first five face down, and the unseen card comes into their hand.
Be-Ranga
Single Sir with no trump call. The round ends the same way: at 7 tricks, and the first 7 straight is a court.
No trump call
Nobody calls a trump. The player to the dealer's right leads.
The first card played by someone who can't follow suit sets the trump for the rest of the round. It counts as a trump in that trick too.
Be-Ranga scores like the other games. The leader's team counts as the callers.
Rung Royal extras
Change the trump isn't offered in this game.
Mendikot
A cousin of Court Piece where the tens decide the round.
The table
Four players in two teams of two. Partners sit opposite each other.
Play goes anticlockwise — to the right.
Everyone gets 13 cards.
The tens
Win the round by taking 3 or 4 of the tens.
At 2 tens each, the side with 7 or more tricks wins.
The trump — a setting
Katte (the default): the first card played by someone who can't follow suit becomes trump. It counts as a trump in that trick.
Band: the player to the dealer's right lays one of their first five cards face down, within 20 seconds — if time runs out, a random one of the five is laid for them. Only they know it.
The first time anyone can't follow suit, it is turned up before they play — and they must play a trump if they have one.
The one who hid it may also turn it up on their own lead, and must then lead a trump.
Playing a trick
Follow the suit that was led if you can.
If you can't, play any card.
The highest trump wins the trick. With no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led wins.
Whoever wins a trick leads the next one.
Scoring
Result
Points
Mendi — 3 tens
+1
Mendikot — all 4 tens
+2
Whitewash — all 13 tricks
+3
Who deals next
The dealer's team wins: the next player deals.
The dealer's team loses: the same dealer deals again.
A whitewash against the dealer's team: the dealer's partner deals.
The match
First to 5 points wins the match. A player's first three matches are to 3.
Mendikot can be played online too.
Rung Royal extras
Our own additions, not traditional rules — offered offline, for watching a video.
New cards: deals you a fresh hand. Offered in every game.
Change the trump isn't offered in this game.
Questions people ask
How many players does Court Piece need?
Four, in two teams of two. Partners sit opposite each other.
Who chooses the trump?
In the first hand, everyone draws a card and the highest card chooses. After that, the player to the dealer's right chooses, from their first five cards.
What is a court (kot)?
In Single Sir, Hidden Rung and Be-Ranga, winning the first seven tricks straight. In Double Sir, collecting all thirteen tricks. A court by the other team is a goon court.
Do I have to play a trump if I can't follow suit?
No, you may play any card. The exceptions: in Hidden Rung, if you ask for the hidden trump to be shown, you must then play a trump if you have one; in Mendikot's Band, the first player who can't follow suit must.
