Fipsen

Fipsen or Fips[1] is an old north German card game for 4 or 5 players that resembles Nap and Mau Mau in some respects. It is a trick-taking game played with a standard Skat pack. In one variant, all the diamonds except one are removed. It has been described as "quite a special card game" that is "ancient, but very easy to learn". In the village of Thedinghausen it is played for currant buns called Hedewigs.[2]

Fipsen
The only diamond used in the Prisdorf variant of Fipsen
OriginNorth Germany
TypePlain-trick game
FamilyTriomphe group
Players4 or 5
Cards25 or 32
DeckFrench pack
Playclockwise
Card rank (highest first)A K Q J 10 9 8 7
Related games
Nap
Features: skat, no diamonds

History and distribution

Fipsen is an old North German card game that emerges in the sources in the late 18th and early 19th century. In 1756, the term appears in an Osnabrück dialect dictionary as "Fipsen: said of a certain card game"[3] and, in 1781, it is recorded in a Low German dictionary for the Pomeranian region as "Fipps, a game of cards."[4] By the mid-19th century it was thriving as a rural pastime, for example, in Dithmarschen in North Frisia it was "a game very popular among farmers"[5] and further afield in Mecklenburg farmers played it alongside Dreikart and Solo.[6] Finder, too, reports it being played at that time in the Vierlande area of Hamburg state together with Dreekort and other games.[7][8]

Today, Fipsen is still played in central north Germany, for example in the counties of Pinneberg,[8] Segeberg[9] and Stormarn[10] in Schleswig-Holstein and Verden in Lower Saxony.[2] In the village of Thedinghausen, the local 5-player version of the game is traditionally played for currant buns called Hedewigs.[2] In 2017, a Fipsen tournament was held in Pinneberg.[11]

Rules

There are two variants—one considerably more complex than the other. The simpler version is based on a report of the game as played today in Thedinghausen, a village southeast of Bremen.[2][12] The more complex is based on a record of the game played at Prisdorf north of Hamburg.[8]

Thedinghausen variant
The aim of Fipsen as played in Thedinghausen is to win Hedewigs

The Thedinghausen rules may be summarised:[2]

Cards

Five players play with a normal Skat pack of 32 cards.

Card ranking within the suits
Clubs Hearts Spades Diamonds
A K Q J 10 9 8 7 A K Q J 10 9 8 7 A K Q J 10 9 8 7 A K Q J 10 9 8 7

Playing

Each player antes the cost of a hedewig to the pot. After shuffling and offering the pack to his right to be cut, the dealer deals five cards to each player and then turns the next as trumps. The remaining six cards are placed to one side and not used. The aim is to win as many tricks as possible.

Forehand (to the dealer's left) leads to the first trick. Suit must be followed; if that is not possible players must trump and overtrump if able. If a player, after receiving his five cards, announces "fipsen", this is a slam contract and he has to win all five tricks.

Scoring

The first player to win ten tricks wins five hedewigs. If a player wins a fipsen, he earns double, i.e. five hedewigs. If he loses even just one trick to an opponent, however, he must pay five hedewigs.

After each round, the winner is given his slip and, at the end of play, players work out how many hedewigs they have won. A hedewig is a type of currant bun local to the region and also known as a Heißwecke.

Prisdorf variant

The more complex variant is played in the vicinity of Prisdorf north of Hamburg. The following summarises the main differences:[8]

Cards

A French-suited Skat pack is used, from which all the diamonds are discarded with the exception of the ♦7, to leave a total of 25 cards. Within their suits they have their natural ranking:[2][8]

Card ranking within the suits
Clubs Hearts Spades Diamonds
A K Q J 10 9 8 7 A K Q J 10 9 8 7 A K Q J 10 9 8 7 7

Playing

Four players (not five). A two-card skat is placed on the table after the first packet of 3 cards is dealt to each player and before the second packet of 2 is dealt, giving each player five hand cards. Three cards are placed to one side and only used for the special bid of Kieker. There is then an auction in which players bid to win a minimum number of tricks and, optionally, a Ruten or Hand contract if desired. The value of the game corresponds to the number of tricks bid, e.g. a bid of 3 tricks is worth 3 points multiplied by either or both of the contracts below:

  • Handspiel - The declarer opts not to use the skat. Doubles the game value.
  • Ruten - The declarer announces diamonds as trumps (there is only one diamond). Also doubles the game value.

Bidding starts at two tricks. In addition, if the declarer wins every trick it is a Durch, and his score is doubled. However, if the declarer fails to achieve his target, he loses double his potential winnings.

If the skat is used, the declarer may discard any two cards. Players must follow suit, but if unable may play any card, unlike the Thedinghausen variant.

A player may bid a Kieker if they have no court cards. This entitles them to pick up the skat and the 3 unused cards and make 5 discards. He must now win all five tricks.

Footnotes
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    References
    1. Brockhaus 1937, p. 55.
    2. Fipsen, ein ganz besonderes Kartenspiel at www.kreiszeitung.de. Retrieved 28 November 2018
    3. Strodtman 1756, p. 55.
    4. Dähnert 1781, p. 120.
    5. Meyer 1859, p. 210.
    6. _ 1863, pp. 415/416.
    7. "Sitten und Bräuche zu Weihnachten" in De Latücht, No. 15, December 1993, KKVV, Hamburg, p. 5. Based on Die Vierlande by Ernst Finder.
    8. Fipsen at www.pagat.com. Retrieved 28 November 2018
    9. "Und dann hat sie mich einfach weggefangen" at www.shz.de. Retrieved 28 November 2018
    10. SPD-Tangstedt lädt zum Skat, Knobeln, Fipsen at www.spd-segeberg.de. Retrieved 28 November 2018
    11. Preisskat und Fipsen in www.pinneberger-tafel.de. Retrieved 17 Aug 2019.
    12. Die Erinnerung lebt at www.weser-kurier.de. Retrieved 16 March 2019 and Tradition mit Fipsen aufleben lassen at www.weser-kurier.de. Retrieved 16 March 2019.

    Literature
    • _ (1863). Deutsche Jahrbücher für Politik und Literatur. Vol. 7, Mai-Heft. Guttentag, Berlin.
    • Brockhaus, F.A. (1937). Der Neue Brockhaus. Leipzig: Brockhaus.
    • Dähnert, Johann Carl (1781). Platt-Deutsches Wörter-Buch nach der alten und neuen Pommerschen und Rügischen Mundart. Stralsund: Struck.
    • Meyer, Johann (1859). Ditmarscher Gedichte: plattdeutsche Poesien in ditmarscher Mundart, Vol. 2. Hamburg: Hoffmann and Campe.
    • Schütze, Johann Friedrich (1800). Holsteinisches Idiotikon, Hamburg: Villaume.
    • Strodtman, Johann Christoph (1756). Idioticon Osnabrugense: Ein Hochzeits-Geschenk an den Herrn Professor und Consistorial-Assessor Schütze bey desselben Verbindung mit der Demoiselle Esmarchinn. Leipzig and Altona: Korten.
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