Chinchón rules
How to play Chinchón with the Spanish deck: drawing and discarding, runs and sets, when you can close, minus ten, Chinchón, and how points are counted until you're knocked out above 100.
Chinchón with the Spanish 40-card deck, for 2 to 4 players. The goal is to meld your cards so you're left with as few points as possible. Whoever goes over 100 points is knocked out, and the last player left wins. If you've never played before, start with “Learn to play”.
How a hand works
- Each player gets seven cards. One card is placed face up: it's the discard pile. The rest, face down, form the deck.
- On your turn you draw a card: the top card of the deck or the top card of the discard pile.
- Then you discard one onto the discard pile, face up. You can't discard the card you just took from the discard pile.
- When your cards are almost all melded, instead of discarding you can close: you leave one card face down and show the other seven. That ends the hand.
If the deck runs out, the discard pile is shuffled (except the top card) and play continues.
Melds
The order is ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, jack, knight and king. The ace only comes before the two (not after the king). A card can only be in one meld.
Close
- You can only close once everyone has already played once in the hand.
- You must have at least four melded cards and your loose cards must add up to 5 or less.
- If you close with all seven melded, you score −10 (minus ten).
- If all seven are in sequence in the same suit, you have Chinchón and win the game on the spot.
Scoring
- Each loose card is worth its face value: ace 1, two 2… jack 10, knight 11 and king 12.
- Whoever closes scores their loose cards (or −10). The others show their cards, lay off any loose cards they can on the melds of whoever closed (unless they closed with −10) and score whatever they have left.
- Whoever goes over 100 is knocked out. If everyone left goes over in the same hand, the one with the fewest points wins.
Variants: 48 cards and jokers
Before starting (against the computer, in the options; in a room, whoever creates it) you can choose the deck and whether to play with jokers.
- With 48 cards the eights and nines come in: the order is ace, 2… 7, 8, 9, jack, knight and king, and each loose card is still worth its face value. There are more cards in the deck.
- With jokers, two are added. A joker can stand in for any card in a run or a set, but each meld must contain at least two real cards.
- A joker left loose is worth 25 points.
- All seven in sequence with a joker don't win the game: with one joker you score −50 and with two, −25.
- At the end of the hand, the others can also lay off their loose jokers on the melds of whoever closed. A joker already laid down can't be swapped for the card it stands in for.
On Naipera
- Melds are arranged automatically, in the best possible way, and points are counted automatically.
- There's no re-entry.
Sources
Chinchón has many variants. We follow the Spanish one, as described by Wikipedia and the Conectagames rules: 40-card deck, close with 5 or less, −10, Chinchón wins, and knocked out above 100.
Frequently asked questions
When can you close in Chinchón?
When everyone has played at least once in the hand, you have at least four melded cards and your loose cards add up to 5 points or less. You leave one card face down and show the other seven.
What is minus ten?
If you close with all seven cards melded, instead of adding points you subtract 10.
What happens if I make Chinchón?
Seven cards in sequence of the same suit: you win the game there and then, without counting points.
Does the jack come after the seven?
Yes. With the 40-card deck there are no eights or nines, so 6-7-jack of the same suit is a run. The ace only comes before the two.