Bezique
| (Bésigue) | |
 |
|
| Origin | France |
|---|---|
| Type | Trick-taking |
| Players | 2 |
| Cards | 64 (double 32-card deck) |
| Deck | Piquet |
| Card rank (highest to lowest) | A 10 K Q J 9 8 7 |
| Playing time | 25 min. |
| Related games | |
| Sixty-six, Marjapussi, Pinochle | |
Bezique (French: [bəzik]) or Bésigue (French: [beziɡ]) is a 19th-century French melding and trick-taking card game for two players. The game is derived from Piquet, possibly via Marriage (Sixty-six) and Briscan, with additional scoring features, notably the peculiar liaison of the Q♠ and J♦ that is also a feature of Pinochle, Binokel, and similarly named games that vary by country.
Bezique was developed in France from the game Piquet, although the word Bezique, formerly Bésique or Bésigue, was known in France in the 17th century, coming probably from the Italian card game Bazzica.
The word bezique once meant "correspondence" or "association". In English-speaking nations, Binocles, meaning eyeglasses with this pronunciation, became the name for Bezique with minor rule variations, ultimately evolving into Pinochle. Two-handed Pinochle and two-handed Bezique are almost identical. The former, together with Six-Pack Bezique and Rubicon Bezique, is still played in the United States.
The game achieved its greatest popularity in Paris by 1860 and in England a few years later. Perhaps the most famous proponent of the game was Winston Churchill, an avid player and early expert of Six-Pack, or "Chinese" Bezique. There is some evidence that the English writers Wilkie Collins and Christina Rossetti were also enthusiasts. However, since the late nineteenth century the game has declined in popularity.
A two-handed Bezique deck is a 64-card deck, consisting of Ace through 7 of each suit doubled (i.e. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are stripped from two decks and the remaining cards combined.) The players cut for deal, with the highest card having preference. The rank of the cards in cutting, and in play, is A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8 and 7. Eight cards are dealt in batches of 3-2-3, to each player with the next card being placed face up between the two players to establish the trump suit. The remaining cards, known as the "talon" or "stock", are placed face down beside it. Should the turn-up card be a 7 the dealer scores ten.
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Wikipedia