Strategy guides

Rang (Court Piece) Rules Explained: A Complete Walkthrough of One Round

The full rules of Rang, also called Court Piece, explained step by step: teams, cards, the trump suit, calling, following suit, winning tricks and a sample round played out.

Rang is easy to pick up and hard to master. The rules fit on a postcard, yet experienced players still argue happily about a single card choice years after the round was played. This article explains the full rules as they work in Rang Royale, then follows one imaginary round from the shuffle to the last trick, so you can see how each rule shows up in practice. If you have never played a trick-taking game before, read slowly and you will be ready for your first table by the end.

The table and the teams

Rang is played by exactly four people in two teams of two. Partners sit opposite each other, so as play moves around the table it always alternates between the two teams: you, then an opponent, then your partner, then the other opponent. You never play two cards in a row for your team. When you lead, your partner plays third, after one opponent has already shown a card, which gives them a little information to work with. That seating is why partnership skills matter so much in this game.

The cards

A standard 52-card deck is used, with no jokers. Within each suit the cards rank from the Ace at the top, then King, Queen, Jack and 10, down to the 2 at the bottom. There are no points attached to individual cards. What counts is tricks: who wins each round of four cards.

The Rang: the trump suit

Every round has one trump suit, called the Rang, which is the word for "colour". A card of the trump suit beats every card of the other three suits, no matter how high they are. The two of trumps beats the Ace of any other suit. Among trumps, normal rank applies, so a higher trump beats a lower one. How the Rang is chosen depends on the mode you play, and that choice is the most important single decision in the round.

Dealing and calling

In Classic and Hidden Rang, each player first receives five cards. The player sitting next to the dealer is the caller. They look at their five cards and choose the Rang. In Classic, the chosen suit is announced to the whole table at once. In Hidden Rang, the caller picks one of their five cards and places it face down, and its suit becomes a secret trump. Once the Rang is set, the remaining cards are dealt so that every player holds thirteen.

In Blind Rang nobody calls. All thirteen cards are dealt at once and the round starts with no trump at all. The trump appears during play, as explained below.

Following suit

The caller leads the first trick by playing any card face up. Each other player then plays one card in turn. The key rule of the whole game is that you must follow suit: if you hold any card of the suit that was led, you must play one of them. You may choose which one, high or low, but you may not play a different suit while you still hold the led suit.

Only when you have no card of the led suit are you free to play anything else. Playing a trump at that moment is called cutting. Throwing away a low card from another suit is called discarding. Both are legal, and choosing between them is a big part of the skill.

Winning a trick

When all four players have played, the trick is decided. If any trumps were played, the highest trump wins. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit that was led wins. A card of a third suit can never win, however high it is, because it neither follows suit nor trumps. The winner of the trick collects the four cards for their team and leads the next trick with any card they like.

Winning the round and the match

There are thirteen tricks in a round. The team that takes seven or more of them wins the round. In Rang Royale every round is played through to the thirteenth trick, even after one team has reached seven, so the final count is always clear. A standard match is the best of three rounds: the first team to win two rounds wins the match. You can also pick a 1-round match in the lobby, where the single round decides it and the entry is half.

After each round, the deal passes to a player on the team that lost, so the next caller always sits on the team that won the last round. Groups at home handle the deal in many different ways, and this is simply the rule Rang Royale uses so that every table works the same way.

How the trump appears in Hidden and Blind Rang

In Hidden Rang, the face-down card stays set aside and the caller plays from their other twelve cards. The Rang remains secret until a player who cannot follow the led suit asks for it to be shown, or plays a card that turns out to be the trump. At that moment it is revealed to everyone and the set-aside card returns to the caller's hand. If nobody ever triggers a reveal, the card is turned up at the end of the round.

In Blind Rang, the first time a player who cannot follow suit plays a card of a different suit, that card's suit becomes the Rang for the rest of the round. From then on the ordinary rules apply, including that trumps beat everything else.

A sample round

Imagine you are the caller in a Classic round. Your first five cards are the Ace and nine of Hearts, the Queen and four of Hearts, and the King of Spades. Four hearts out of five is an easy decision, so you call hearts as the Rang. The rest of the cards are dealt and you finish with six hearts, three spades, two clubs and two diamonds.

You lead first. Rather than start with a trump, you lead the King of Spades to find out where the Ace is. The opponent on your left plays the five of Spades, your partner plays the three, and the last opponent plays the Ace. Their team wins the first trick, but you have learned something useful: the Ace of Spades is gone, so your remaining spades are safer.

The winning opponent now leads the King of Diamonds. You have two diamonds and must follow, so you play your lowest. Your partner has no diamonds and cuts with the two of Hearts, which beats the King because it is a trump. Your team takes the second trick with the smallest card on the table.

A few tricks later you begin leading your high hearts. The Ace draws two small trumps from the opponents, and the Queen draws more. Once you are fairly sure the opponents have run out of hearts, your remaining spades and clubs are much safer to lead, because nobody is left to cut them. You finish the round with eight tricks, your team wins the round, and the deal passes to the other side.

That small story contains most of the game: a call made from five cards, a lead that gathers information, a cheap cut by a partner, and trumps used to take control late in the round.

Where to go next

Once the rules feel natural, the next step is learning why good players make the choices they do. Our guides on choosing the Rang suit, partner play and counting cards are good places to start, and the glossary explains every term used here. Then sit down at a table and try it: Rang is a game best learned one trick at a time.

More guides

• Classic, Hidden and Blind Rang Compared: How Each Mode Plays and Which to Choose
• Choosing the Rang Suit: How to Call Trumps From Five Cards
• Partner Play in Rang: Reading and Helping Your Teammate Through Your Cards
• Counting Cards in Rang: A Simple System for Tracking Trumps and High Cards
• Hidden Rang vs Blind Rang: How the Two Variants Change Your Strategy
• Ten Beginner Mistakes in Rang (Court Piece) and How to Avoid Them
• Winning the Endgame in Rang: Managing the Last Five Tricks
• Opening Leads and Following Suit: The Foundations of Every Trick in Rang
• Managing Your Trumps in Rang: When to Cut, When to Draw and When to Wait
• Defending Against the Caller in Rang: Strategy for the Team That Did Not Choose Trumps
• Coming to Rang From Bridge, Spades or Hearts: What Carries Over and What Is Different

New to the rules? See How to Play and the glossary. For festivals, language and family play, see Family & Culture.