How to Play Briscola Chiamata

Briscola Chiamata takes the classic two-player duel and turns it into a five-player game of hidden alliances. One player calls a card they don't hold — and whoever's got it becomes their secret partner for the hand. Nobody else at the table knows who's on which side until the cards start falling.

Overview

Briscola Chiamata — sometimes called "chiamata all'asso" — is the five-player calling variant of Italy's favourite trick-taking game. The core rules of a trick are pure Briscola: highest trump wins, or the highest card of the suit led if no trump was played. What changes everything is the call at the start of the hand. One player sets the trump suit and names a specific card, usually an Ace, that they don't hold. Whoever's got it is secretly on their team for the rest of the deal — a hidden pair up against the other three, with nobody quite sure who to trust until the right card hits the table.

How to Play

1. Deal. All 40 cards are dealt out evenly, eight to each of the five players. Unlike two-player Briscola, there's no leftover draw pile — every card is in someone's hand from the start.
2. Make the call. The caller (usually chosen by the deal, or by whoever wants to gamble on a strong hand) announces the trump suit, then names a card in that suit — typically the Ace — that isn't in their own hand.
3. Find the partner. Whoever is holding the called card is now the caller's secret partner. Neither of them announces it. The rest of the table has to watch the tricks to work out who's paired with whom.
4. Lead a card. Play proceeds around the table with each player leading in turn. As in standard Briscola, there's no obligation to follow suit — any card can be played.
5. Win the trick. The highest trump played wins the trick. If nobody played a trump, the highest card of the suit that was led takes it. The trick winner collects the cards and leads next.
6. Play out the hand. Keep going until all eight tricks are played and every card is gone.
7. Reveal and score. Add up the points captured by the caller's team (the caller plus their secret partner) against the other three players. Because the teams are uneven — two against three — the caller's side needs a smaller share of the 120 points to win the hand.

Card Values & Points

Point values are identical to standard Briscola — only five cards in each suit carry any weight.

• Ace — 11 points (highest card)
• Three — 10 points (second highest)
• King — 4 points
• Queen / Cavallo — 3 points
• Jack / Fante — 2 points
• All other cards (7, 6, 5, 4, 2) — 0 points, ranked in that order

There are 120 points in the deck in total. Since the caller's team has two players against three, they're playing for a smaller slice of the points — usually just under half — while the larger team needs a clear majority to win the hand.

Strategy Tips

• Watch who wins tricks with strong cards. The fastest way to spot the secret partner is to notice who keeps rescuing the caller's point-heavy tricks.
• Callers should think before naming the Ace. If you hold three of the four Aces yourself, calling the fourth all but guarantees a specific, findable partner — sometimes it's smarter to call a different card entirely.
• Play it cool if you're the secret partner. Capturing every trick for your caller too early gives away the alliance — feed points in gradually to keep the other three guessing.
• The majority team should apply pressure early. With three players against two, force tricks and count points aggressively — time is on your side if you can identify the pair quickly.

Frequently Asked Questions

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