preference

preference, trick-taking card game for three players, widely played throughout eastern Europe, popular in Austria, and regarded since the early 19th century as the national card game of Russia.

Preference, descended from ombre, took its name from its order of preference for the trump suit: spades (low), clubs, diamonds, hearts (high). This feature, though now common to many card games, was borrowed from the 18th-century game of Boston whist. Another distinctive feature of the game is that not only the declarer (the player who wins the bid and thus declares trump) but also each opponent is obliged to take a minimum number of tricks, which thus imparts a novel twist to the nature of partnership play required from the two defenders.

The modern game is far more complicated than that still recorded in most American rule books (such as the many “Hoyles”), and there are numerous variations. Since Russian card play emerged from its social obscurity under the communist regime, clubs and societies devoted to the game have sprung up, each with its own interpretation of the rules.