Russian Fool

Fool (and its variants) appeared in Russia in the nineteenth century and quickly gained widespread popularity. Now Russian Fool (Durak) is Russia's most popular card game. It is easy to play, but has similar qualities to Hearts or Spades and is an extremely competitive game.

This game is for two players. The goal is to get rid of all your cards. The deck has 36 cards (standard Russian deck), consisting of all four suits and card values ranging from 6 through Ace (highest).

RULES:
Each player is dealt six cards. The thirteenth card is put face up on the table and the Deck placed upon it. This card is trump, and is considered the last card in the deck. The player going first is the Attacker and selects any card he/she wants from his/her hand and plays it in any of the initial five Playing Positions on the center of the table. The Defender may only cover with a higher card of the same suit or trump the trick (trump can be played anytime). When the Defender covers all (one or more of) the attacker's discards (in Russian called "bito") roles are switched and on the next turn the Defender becomes the Attacker. After the first "bito" the number of Playing Positions on the table increases from five to six.