Konter A Matt

Konter a Matt, “Kontra a Matt” or “Konter a Midd” is a Luxembourgish card game to be played by four players. Players form two teams of two partners. Partners sit at opposite seats.

A 24-card deck is used: the four suits with ace (A), king (K), queen (Q), jack (J), ten (10) and nine (9).

The value in points of the cards are: ace 4, king 3, queen 2, jack 1, 10 and 9 nothing.

In order to win a match, a team has to get more than 20 points. If each team gets 20 points, the game ends as a draw.

At the beginning of one game, the trump suit is fixed. Additionally, three cards are always trumps: the queens of spades ♠Q, hearts ♥Q and diamonds ♦Q are always trumps. This is what gave the name to the game: the two queens of hearts ♥Q and diamonds ♦Q are the two Kontra trumps, the queen of spades Q is the “Matt”.

As a consequence, in a match, depending on which suit is the trump, there are nine or eight trumps, four possibilities, the value of the cards is as follows (from highest to lowest, the point value is not affected):

• ♠ : ♠A, ♠Q, ♥Q, ♦Q, ♠K, ♠V, ♠10, ♠9
• ♥ : ♥A, ♠Q, ♥Q, ♦Q, ♥K, ♥V, ♥10, ♥9
• ♦ : ♦A, ♠Q, ♥Q, ♦Q, ♦K, ♦V, ♦10, ♦9
• ♣ : ♣A, ♠Q, ♥Q, ♦Q, ♣K, ♣Q, ♣V, ♣10, ♣9

The next rule is the obligation to respond to the suit that has been played or to play a trump. If you have a card belonging to the suit that is played, you may not play another suit (except a trump).

If no trump is played, the suit you have to respond to, is fixed by the first card that is played. The highest card of this suit wins the draw. The value range is (highest to lowest): A, K, Q, V, 10, and 9.

The person that wins the four cards puts them next to his place face down, paying attention not to mix them with the other cards. Sometimes, it will be necessary to cross check whether somebody played a trump or not.

Now about counting the different games: during a match, more than one game is played – minimum is three. When beginning a match, the person counting will draw the following picture. You won a match if all of your stripes have been crossed out. By convention, the counter is with the team second row.

There are different ways to win or to lose a game.

First, you may have been the one that has chosen the trump and you lose. Second, the game counts differently according whether Kontra, Matt or Kontra-Matt has been announced. (You must have the cards to announce them.) Kontra or Matt doubles, Kontra and Matt multiples by three. Last, you may win or lose without the other team getting a draw. If the match was won against those who decided the trump, there will be as many stripes added as those that are removed (see below chart), viewed from the counter. If the other team got no draw at all, there will be one more stripe removed, and eventually one more added.

• A. Simple lose
• B. Simple lose, but your team fixed trump
• C. lose but kontra or matt was announced,
• D. lose but kontra or matt was announced but your team fixed trump

• A. Simple lose, so: one crossed out
• B. Simple lose, but your team fixed trump, so: one crossed out, one added
• C. lose but kontra or matt was announced, so: two crossed out
• D. lose but kontra or matt was announced but your team fixed trump; so: two crossed out, two added
• lose but kontra and matt was announced, so: three crossed out
• lose but kontra and matt was announced but your team fixed trump; so: three crossed out, three added

For a draw, no stripes are removed, but the team that fixed the trump will have stripes added, one to three depending on the announcements.