How to Play

Skruuvi is a Finnish partnership trick-taking game, cousin to Bridge and Vint, with a 4-card kotka (kitty) exchange and a memorable misery contract.

Skruuvi is Finland's answer to Bridge and the Russian game Vint. Four players in fixed partnerships bid for a contract on their shared 4-hand of 52 cards, then play 13 tricks to make or defeat it. Two features distinguish Skruuvi from standard Bridge: a 4-card kitty (kotka) that the declaring side picks up and discards from before play, and the availability of a 'misääri' (misery) contract where the declarer commits to winning no tricks. The name Skruuvi comes from Swedish 'skruv' meaning 'screw', a reference to the pressure the defenders apply to the declarer's contract.

Players

Exactly 4 players in 2 fixed partnerships. Partners sit across from each other. Match length is traditionally 3 rounds of 8 deals each plus four kotka (endgame) hands; or an agreed number of rubbers.

Card Deck

One standard 52-card French-suited pack. Ranks high to low: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Aces are always high. There is no Joker. Suits rank (for bidding tie-breaks): Clubs (lowest), Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, No Trump (highest).

Objective

Bid for and fulfill a contract specifying how many tricks above 6 your partnership will take in a named trump suit (or no-trump), or in the 'misääri' negative contract take zero tricks. Partnerships score for successful contracts and lose points for failing. Match is won by the higher cumulative score across an agreed number of rounds.

Setup and Deal

1. Choose first dealer by cutting for high card. Deal rotates clockwise.
2. Shuffle and deal the 52-card deck as follows: 12 cards to each of the four players in batches of 4, then 4 cards face-down in the middle as the kotka (kitty).
3. Before the auction begins, each player reviews their 12-card hand.
4. Forehand (player to the left of the dealer) opens the auction.

Gameplay

1. Auction phase: Each player in turn bids or passes. A valid bid specifies the minimum trick count above 6 that the bidder commits to win with their partner (from 7 to 13 tricks) and a trump suit (Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, or No Trump). Bids increase by either trick count or suit rank. Three passes end the auction.
2. Special contracts: Instead of a standard bid, a player may bid 'misääri' (win 0 tricks, no trump), 'bolshevik' (grand slam misery, win 0 tricks playing solo against the other three), or 'mussolini' (grand slam no-trump, win all 13 tricks playing solo). These rank above corresponding positive bids.
3. Kotka (kitty) exchange: The winning bidder is the declarer. They take the 4-card kotka into their hand (now holding 16 cards) and discard any 4 cards face-down, returning to 12 cards. The discarded cards go to the declarer's own tricks pile and will count as captured tricks at the end.
4. Partner equalization: After the kotka exchange, if the declarer's partner holds more than 12 cards (they do not in standard play), they discard to 12; however, in most Skruuvi versions the partner's hand is untouched at 12. Only the declarer exchanges.
5. Second round of bidding: Only the declarer's partnership may now further raise the contract (they have more information after kotka). The declaring side may choose to raise their bid; the defenders may not. Then defenders may double the current bid ('knock'), and the declaring side may redouble.
6. Trick play: The player to the declarer's left leads the first trick. Players must follow suit if able. If unable, they may play any card. The highest trump wins or, if no trump is played, the highest card of the led suit. Trick winner leads the next.
7. Misery play: If the contract is misääri, there is no trump; the declarer must win zero tricks across all 13 to succeed. Misery is played solo against the three opponents (partner sits out the hand).
8. End of play: After 13 tricks, count tricks won by each side. The declaring partnership needs at least 6 + bid_level tricks to fulfill the contract (for example, a bid of 9 requires 9 tricks won).

Scoring

• Contract success: The declaring partnership scores points based on the contract level and suit. Bid values escalate by suit: Clubs = 1 point per trick over 6, Diamonds = 2, Hearts = 3, Spades = 4, No Trump = 5. A bid of 9 in Spades that takes 10 tricks scores 4 x 3 (three tricks over 6) = 12 points, plus 4 for the overtrick.
• Contract failure: Each trick below the bid loses the declaring side 50 points (100 if doubled, 200 if redoubled).
• Slam bonuses: A bid of 12 (small slam) earns a 500-point bonus if made. A bid of 13 (grand slam) earns 1000 points.
• Misääri success: 100 points for taking 0 tricks; +50 per defender-won trick that would have broken the misery.
• Grand slam specials (bolshevik, mussolini): 2000 points if made; -2000 if failed.
• Honors: Holding all 4 Aces or all 5 trump honours (A K Q J 10) in hand scores 100 bonus points.
• Match target: Play to an agreed round total or best-of-rubbers; highest score wins.

Winning

Partners win individual hands by fulfilling (or defeating) the named contract. The match is won by the partnership with the higher cumulative score after the agreed number of rubbers or rounds. A traditional Skruuvi match runs 3 rounds of 8 standard deals plus 4 kotka hands (endgames played without a kitty).

Common Variations

• Tournament Skruuvi: Uses duplicate dealing (each hand played at two tables with swapped partnerships) for fairness, similar to duplicate Bridge.
• Simplified Skruuvi: Remove the misery and grand-slam-solo contracts; just play standard partnership bidding with the kotka mechanic.
• Kotka-less Skruuvi: Deal all 52 cards to the four players (13 each) and skip the kitty exchange; the game becomes a Vint-style partnership bid with kitty convenience removed.
• Bolshevik exclusive: Remove standard misery; only the bolshevik (solo misery) is allowed at the highest level.
• Finnish University Skruuvi: Adds a drinking penalty for failed contracts and eliminates honours scoring for simpler accounting.

Tips and Strategy

• Bid based on a combined partnership evaluation, not just your own hand. Skruuvi's hand valuation uses high-card points (4-3-2-1 for AKQJ) plus distribution; 25+ partnership points usually justifies a 3-bid.
• Use the kotka exchange to dump your two weakest suits' low cards; they count automatically as declarer tricks so you effectively win them 'free'.
• Misääri requires a hand with no guaranteed trick-winners in any suit. A single Ace without a 2 or 3 below it is often a misery-killer.
• Count trumps played; with 13 trumps in a suit contract, knowing when the last enemy trump is gone is decisive in the endgame.
• As defender, lead trumps early when you suspect the declarer needs trump tricks for their contract; forcing trump reduction is the cornerstone of Skruuvi defense.
• Save one high card in each side suit when possible. An Ace that sweeps a trick is always better than one that gets drawn out on a trump lead.

Glossary

• Kotka: The 4-card kitty set aside at the deal; the declarer takes it and discards four cards.
• Skruuvi: The game itself; also the metaphorical 'screw' the defenders put on the declarer.
• Misääri: The misery contract; declarer must win 0 tricks solo.
• Bolshevik: A grand slam misery played solo; the highest-value misery contract.
• Mussolini: A grand slam no-trump played solo; win all 13 tricks alone.
• Honours: All 4 Aces or all 5 trump top cards in one hand; scores 100 bonus points.
• Knock: A double call by the defenders before play begins; doubles the stake at risk.
• Rubber: A match of several deals; the traditional Skruuvi unit of competition.
• Forehand: Player to the dealer's left; opens the auction and, on defense, leads the first trick.