This is a perfect information card game published by G. Capellen in 1915
in Germany
and republished in Sid
Sackson's great collection "A Gamut of Games".
You play two games in a row with the same starting position, the first
in which you are blue and go first, the second in which you are yellow
and go second. A trick consists of selecting one card of your color
from the those
remaining in the tableau; the opponent then must select one of her
color from the same row, or if there is no such card in that row, from
the same column. The players then compare their cards, the one who
played the higher card leads to the next trick. Card A is "higher"
than card B in
this game if A is either to the left or above B in the tableau.
If the responding player is unable to play (i.e. has no cards of his color
in either the same row or same column as the card led) then he is mated
and loses the round. The winner scores a point value equal to the
number on the last card he played times the number of tricks played.
An additional complication is the possibility of "foreplaying" (anyone
detect a sexual motif in this game?). On the first turn of the game
either player or both may foreplay a card, meaning that it is removed
from the tableau and the round continues with 1 or 2 fewer cards. A
player who foreplays a card has her trick number advanced by one, thus
increasing her potential score should she win. Furthermore, should she
need to play one last card in round 10, she plays her last card again;
in that case a win would see the score doubled.