How to introduce and teach Tichu to newbies-friends.
Posted: 20 July 2024, 23:35
On a Saturday morning, 4 friends who are complete newbies to Tichu cardgame have come to my house to play "Tichu boot camp" table (1000 points). Playing time starts at 9.00 am until 12.30 pm for lunch break, then continue until 7.30 pm.
Player A is Andrew, Player B is Bob, Player C is Catherine, Player D is Donny. Both Andrew and Bob are FIDE rated chess players with 1800plus ratings.
Andrew is in his late twenties and Bob in his early thirties. Catherine is a high school mathematics teacher and in her early forties. She said
she has heard so much about Tichu cardgame and is very anxious to try it out. She definitely can solve a division problem like what is 14 divide by 2 equals? Donny is a medical doctor, in his late thirties (he has just recently purchased Tichu physical cards deck and is very eager to play Tichu with his wife and two kids and a proud owner of Tichu cards deck). He just needs to experience the cardgame to make the transition from a beginner to an experienced player. Both Andrew and Bob want to learn Tichu fast so that they can pair up together and play it against other experienced Tichu players. Both do not want to learn Tichu cardgame when they are in their forties.
They exclaimed, "Numbers impact upon human society more profoundly than abstract pieces and tiles (chess, chinese chess, weiqi or go and mahjong)". 
As a dealer and after explaining the rules, I just dealt 14 Tichu cards face-down straight up (GT mode deactivated) to all 4 players. This is a basic Tichu table or better known as kiddie table or beginners league table. Only 14 Tichu hands are in play and no Grand Tichu call. Tichu calls, 1-2 and cardpoints apply as usual. Objective is to try to make at least 10 Tichu calls successfully and exit at 1-7. All 4 players are required to note down their Tichu hand's exit steps if they make the Tichu call.
Examples: 12345678910JQKA exit at 1, 1234Ph678,Q,A,2,A,Dr,6 exit at 7, 3,Q,A,77,JJ,KPh,Dr,2222 exit at 8, 1,J,K,3,Q,A,4,A,6,A,8,A,Dr,9 exit at 14 with exit card 9. There is no Tichu hand that exit first and exit at 15 ("From where did you get one extra phantom card?"
).
Catherine: So if I call Tichu and demonstrate that I exit first and exit at 14, I will get 100 points just the same as my opponent who calls Tichu, exit first and exit at 4?
Myself: That is true, comrade Catherine. All are equal before the great socialist state, comrade Catherine.
Donny: So the 56 Tichu cards come with a natural built-in "14 Tichu hands", right?
Myself: Yes, that is correct, comrade Donny. Grand Tichu easy 7 table is coming in to fix that. Grand Tichu easy 7 table is going to separate men and ladies from boys and girls.
1st game: AB vs CD, 2nd game: AC vs BD, 3rd game: AD vs BC, 4th game: AB vs CD (different seatings) and so on.
By the end of the day, Donny's progress goes like this, he made 16 Tichu calls successfully, exit at 8,8,7,9,10,6,6,7,8,7,7,6,9,7,7,5 (He got at least 10 Tichu made in range of 1-7 exit steps). Donny has made the transition into an experienced Tichu player, he can now sit and play at Grand Tichu easy 7 table. He holds the rank "Private 2nd class".
Bob's progress goes like this, he made 10 Tichu calls successfully, exit at 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5. He too made the transition into an experienced Tichu player, entering Grand Tichu easy 7 table with the rank "Private 1st class" . He can plan for and play Grand Tichu easy 7 table for a couple of months to gain more experiences and then make the leap into Grand Tichu hard 5 table with his partner, Andrew.
Both Catherine and Andrew made 7,9 Tichu calls successfully, but did not accomplish at least 10 Tichu calls made successfully in range of 1-7 exit steps. They need to play more Tichu to accomplish the objective.
Both Donny and Bob got their graduation certificates (printed quality papers) as shown in the picture.
Progression goes like this for a newbie-beginner to this Tichu cardgame:
Beginners table (Social casual play, the journey of 1,000 rounds begins here at introduction table, a very noisy table, because all 14 "Tichu hands" are in play!!
)
Grand Tichu easy 7 (Social casual play, jiandan qi, decibel noises are halved at this table, because only the first 7 "Tichu hands" are in play)
Grand Tichu hard 5 (Intermediate level, nan wu, only the first 5 "Tichu hands" are in play)
Grand Tichu ultimate hard 1 (Expert level, zuizhong nan de yi, a very dead, dead, dead, quiet, silence table, "How often do you get 12345Ph78910JQKA?" Strictly and purely all about 1-2)
Grand Tichu Easy 7 table or in Korean language, "Swi-un ilgop" or in Vietnamese language, " De bay" due to 8/6 cards mechanic from Europe ( a bit dose of capitalism), society inequality is created.
Andrew, Bob, Catherine and Donny have their whole lifetimes before them to see if they can make it, to play Tichu in its truest and purest form, Grand Tichu ultimate hard 1 table (zuizhong nan de yi) . Their Tichu journey-adventure then shall come back to a full circle.
Player A is Andrew, Player B is Bob, Player C is Catherine, Player D is Donny. Both Andrew and Bob are FIDE rated chess players with 1800plus ratings.
Andrew is in his late twenties and Bob in his early thirties. Catherine is a high school mathematics teacher and in her early forties. She said
she has heard so much about Tichu cardgame and is very anxious to try it out. She definitely can solve a division problem like what is 14 divide by 2 equals? Donny is a medical doctor, in his late thirties (he has just recently purchased Tichu physical cards deck and is very eager to play Tichu with his wife and two kids and a proud owner of Tichu cards deck). He just needs to experience the cardgame to make the transition from a beginner to an experienced player. Both Andrew and Bob want to learn Tichu fast so that they can pair up together and play it against other experienced Tichu players. Both do not want to learn Tichu cardgame when they are in their forties.
They exclaimed, "Numbers impact upon human society more profoundly than abstract pieces and tiles (chess, chinese chess, weiqi or go and mahjong)". As a dealer and after explaining the rules, I just dealt 14 Tichu cards face-down straight up (GT mode deactivated) to all 4 players. This is a basic Tichu table or better known as kiddie table or beginners league table. Only 14 Tichu hands are in play and no Grand Tichu call. Tichu calls, 1-2 and cardpoints apply as usual. Objective is to try to make at least 10 Tichu calls successfully and exit at 1-7. All 4 players are required to note down their Tichu hand's exit steps if they make the Tichu call.
Examples: 12345678910JQKA exit at 1, 1234Ph678,Q,A,2,A,Dr,6 exit at 7, 3,Q,A,77,JJ,KPh,Dr,2222 exit at 8, 1,J,K,3,Q,A,4,A,6,A,8,A,Dr,9 exit at 14 with exit card 9. There is no Tichu hand that exit first and exit at 15 ("From where did you get one extra phantom card?"
).Catherine: So if I call Tichu and demonstrate that I exit first and exit at 14, I will get 100 points just the same as my opponent who calls Tichu, exit first and exit at 4?
Myself: That is true, comrade Catherine. All are equal before the great socialist state, comrade Catherine.
Donny: So the 56 Tichu cards come with a natural built-in "14 Tichu hands", right?
Myself: Yes, that is correct, comrade Donny. Grand Tichu easy 7 table is coming in to fix that. Grand Tichu easy 7 table is going to separate men and ladies from boys and girls.
1st game: AB vs CD, 2nd game: AC vs BD, 3rd game: AD vs BC, 4th game: AB vs CD (different seatings) and so on.
By the end of the day, Donny's progress goes like this, he made 16 Tichu calls successfully, exit at 8,8,7,9,10,6,6,7,8,7,7,6,9,7,7,5 (He got at least 10 Tichu made in range of 1-7 exit steps). Donny has made the transition into an experienced Tichu player, he can now sit and play at Grand Tichu easy 7 table. He holds the rank "Private 2nd class".
Bob's progress goes like this, he made 10 Tichu calls successfully, exit at 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5. He too made the transition into an experienced Tichu player, entering Grand Tichu easy 7 table with the rank "Private 1st class"
. He can plan for and play Grand Tichu easy 7 table for a couple of months to gain more experiences and then make the leap into Grand Tichu hard 5 table with his partner, Andrew.Both Catherine and Andrew made 7,9 Tichu calls successfully, but did not accomplish at least 10 Tichu calls made successfully in range of 1-7 exit steps. They need to play more Tichu to accomplish the objective.
Both Donny and Bob got their graduation certificates (printed quality papers) as shown in the picture.
Progression goes like this for a newbie-beginner to this Tichu cardgame:
Beginners table (Social casual play, the journey of 1,000 rounds begins here at introduction table, a very noisy table, because all 14 "Tichu hands" are in play!!
)Grand Tichu easy 7 (Social casual play, jiandan qi, decibel noises are halved at this table, because only the first 7 "Tichu hands" are in play)
Grand Tichu hard 5 (Intermediate level, nan wu, only the first 5 "Tichu hands" are in play)
Grand Tichu ultimate hard 1 (Expert level, zuizhong nan de yi, a very dead, dead, dead, quiet, silence table, "How often do you get 12345Ph78910JQKA?"
Strictly and purely all about 1-2)Grand Tichu Easy 7 table or in Korean language, "Swi-un ilgop" or in Vietnamese language, " De bay" due to 8/6 cards mechanic from Europe ( a bit dose of capitalism), society inequality is created.
Andrew, Bob, Catherine and Donny have their whole lifetimes before them to see if they can make it, to play Tichu in its truest and purest form, Grand Tichu ultimate hard 1 table (zuizhong nan de yi)
. Their Tichu journey-adventure then shall come back to a full circle.