How to Play

A Russian 36-card trick-taking game in the Bura family with super-trump 6 of spades, multi-card leads, and penalty scoring that brands the loser as the goat.

Kozel (Russian for "goat") is a 36-card Russian trick-taking game in the Bura family. Two to four players, each playing for themselves or in two partnerships, receive a four-card hand and try to capture card-points in tricks of one to four same-suit cards. Unusually, following players do not have to follow suit: they only have to play the same number of cards as the lead, beating each one individually if they want to win the trick. The 6 of spades (shokha) ranks above every other card in the deck, even the ace of trumps, though it has no point value. Scoring is penalty-based: whoever takes the fewest card-points in a deal loses and picks up penalty chips; the first player or team to reach 12 penalty points is eliminated, and the last survivor wins.

Players

Two, three, or four players. Two or three play as individuals; four play as two fixed partnerships with partners sitting opposite.

Card Deck

• A 36-card pack: sixes through aces in four suits.
• Card-points: Ace = 11, Ten = 10, King = 4, Queen = 3, Jack = 2; the 9, 8, 7, and 6 are worth zero card-points.A♠K♠Q♠J♠10♠
• Ranking order inside a suit, high to low: A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7, 6.A♠10♠K♠Q♠J♠9♠8♠7♠6♠
• The 6 of spades, called the shokha, outranks every other card in the deck (including the ace of trumps) but is still worth 0 card-points.6♠
• The total number of card-points available in the deck is 120.

Objective

Take as many card-points in tricks as possible each deal. The player or partnership with the fewest card-points at the end of a deal receives a penalty (the goat). The first player or team to accumulate 12 or more penalty points is eliminated; the last player or team still under 12 wins the match.

Setup and Deal

1. Choose a dealer by cut (low card deals); the deal rotates clockwise.
2. Shuffle the 36-card pack and deal four cards to each player, one at a time.
3. Turn up the next card face up and place it crosswise under the remaining stock; its suit is the trump for the deal.
4. The remaining undealt cards form the face-down stock, next to the face-up trump indicator.
5. The player to the dealer's left leads to the first trick.

Gameplay

1. Lead: On your turn to lead, play one, two, three, or four cards of a single suit face up. The number of cards you lead (the trick size) fixes how many cards each opponent must play to the trick.
2. Respond: Each following player, in clockwise order, plays exactly the same number of cards as the lead. They do not have to follow suit and do not have to play trumps. Cards they do not wish to use to contest the trick are played face down.
3. Win the trick: To beat the lead, a following player's cards must each individually beat one of the led cards, matching by suit-and-higher-rank or by using a higher trump. A single missed card loses the whole trick; face-down cards are always considered to lose.
4. Special leads (Moscow and Molodka): A player who did not win the previous trick may still take the lead by declaring a Moscow or Molodka.
5. Moscow (Moskva): A four-card combination made up entirely of aces, tens, and optionally the 6 of spades, containing at least one ace. Playing a Moscow automatically wins its own trick and lets the player lead the next trick as well.6♠
6. Molodka: Four cards of the same suit, or three cards of the same suit together with the 6 of spades. A Molodka also wins its own trick and takes the lead, but is outranked by a Moscow if both would be led in the same sequence.6♠
7. Replenish the hand: After each trick, every player draws from the stock back up to four cards, starting with the trick winner. When the stock is exhausted, play continues with dwindling hands until all cards are played.
8. End of deal: Count card-points captured in each player's or partnership's tricks.

Scoring

• Card-point totals decide the deal. Each deal produces 120 card-points distributed across aces (11), tens (10), kings (4), queens (3), and jacks (2).
• Best total gets 0 penalty points. The player or partnership with the most card-points in the deal scores 0 penalty.
• Others pay penalty points: In a two-player game, the loser scores 2 penalty points; in three-player, 2nd place scores 2 and last place scores 4; in a four-player partnership game, the losing team scores 2, 4, or 6 penalty points depending on how much they were outscored (2 if they took more than 31 card-points, 4 if they took between 1 and 31, 6 if they took none).
• Elimination: A player or partnership whose penalty total reaches 12 or more is out of the game.
• Match win: The last player or partnership below 12 penalty points wins; in two-player matches, the first to push the opponent to 12 wins outright.

Winning

A match ends when only one player or partnership is left under 12 penalty points. In short sessions, players instead agree on a fixed number of deals and the side with the fewest penalty points wins. In four-player partnership play, partners sum their card-points each deal and share the penalty score.

Common Variations

• Kozel for money: A gambling form for up to five players. Each player antes into the pot; winning a Bura (three trumps in your lead) or playing four aces takes the pot immediately, otherwise the highest card-point total wins.
• No shokha variant: The 6 of spades is not elevated to super-trump; it is simply the lowest spade. Removes one of the game's quirkiest mechanics.6♠
• Three-player Kozel: Plays as individuals; the 6 of clubs is sometimes removed to keep the deal even.6♣
• Partnership Kozel without Moscow/Molodka: Omits the special leads, making the game closer to classic whist while keeping the non-follow-suit rule.

Tips and Strategy

• Lead in ones when you want to probe the opponent's hand and in twos or threes when you can force them to waste high cards covering lower ones.
• The shokha (6 of spades) is a guaranteed single-card winner; save it for a trick loaded with high card-points rather than using it on a throwaway lead.6♠
• Playing cards face down (the Bura family calls this "throwing") is often correct on a lost trick so you do not feed point-cards to the winner.
• Count card-points as the hand progresses. Once 90 of the 120 points have been booked, the leader usually needs only one more medium trick to clinch the deal.
• In partnerships, coordinate by signalling with face-down plays: only the partner with real winners should attempt to beat the lead.

Glossary

• Kozel: Russian for "goat"; the penalty mark or loser's title in this game.
• Shokha: The 6 of spades, super-trump that outranks every other card in the pack.6♠
• Bura: A set of three trumps in a single lead; in the money version it wins the pot outright.
• Moscow (Moskva): A four-card special lead containing aces, tens, and optionally the 6 of spades, including at least one ace.6♠
• Molodka: A four-card lead of one suit, or three of a suit plus the 6 of spades; outranked by a Moscow.6♠
• Throwing: Playing face-down cards that cannot win, sacrificed to avoid handing card-points to the trick winner.
• Card-points: The in-trick values A=11, 10=10, K=4, Q=3, J=2.
• Penalty points: The score accumulated for losing deals; reaching 12 eliminates a player or team.