Tarneeb vs Spades
Two partnership trick-takers, one from the Levant and one from America.
The big difference between Tarneeb and Spades is who decides trump. In Tarneeb the team that wins the auction (one bid, 7 to 13 tricks) names any suit as trump for that hand; in Spades, spades are always trump and every player bids their own count. Both use four players in fixed partnerships, thirteen cards each and a standard deck, so a Spades player can sit down at a Tarneeb table and follow the play at once. The bidding and the scoring are where they part.
The same result, scored both ways
Say your side commits to 8 tricks and takes 9.
| Tarneeb | Spades | |
|---|---|---|
| Bid 8, took 9 | +9, every trick counts | +81: 80 for the bid, 1 for the overtrick (a bag) |
| Bid 8, took 7 | −8, and the other side scores its 6 tricks | −80; the other side scores its own bid separately |
| Took all 13 | Kaboot: 16, or 26 on a bid of 13 | No sweep bonus in the standard game |
| Game | First side to 41 | First side to 500 on our Spades tables |
The overtrick is the tell. Tarneeb pays it in full, so you bid low and play for everything. Spades gives one point for it and counts it as a bag; ten bags cost 100 points, so you try to bid exactly what you'll take.
Side by side
| Tarneeb | Spades | |
|---|---|---|
| Trump suit | Chosen by the auction winner each hand; any suit can be the tarneeb | Always spades |
| Bidding | One auction for the contract, bids of 7 to 13 tricks for your team; players may pass | Every player bids once; the team's contract is the two bids added; Nil is a bid of zero |
| Direction of play | Counter-clockwise, to the right | Clockwise, to the left |
| Void in the led suit | Play anything; trumping is optional | Play anything; spades can be led only once broken |
Choosing trump vs living with spades
In Tarneeb, winning the auction means you name the trump suit to fit your hand, so a long clubs suit can become the strongest thing at the table. In Spades the trump never changes, and the skill moves from choosing it to timing it: when to cut, when to lead spades to draw the opponents' trumps, when to hold an ace back for one more trick.
One team bid vs four promises
A Tarneeb bid is one number for the partnership, and only the winning bid matters: seven tricks minimum, thirteen at most. Spades makes every player call their own count, and the hand turns on how the four promises fit together, from your partner's confident 5 beside your shaky 2 to a Nil, a promise to win nothing while your partner covers you.
Which to learn first
- Start with Spades if you want fewer decisions at the start: the trump is fixed, and the bidding still teaches you to value a hand.
- Start with Tarneeb if the auction is what draws you. Naming the trump is the biggest single decision in either game, and the scoring is simpler to keep on paper.
Keep reading
- Play Tarneeb Online: free in the browser, with the rules on the page.
- How to Play Tarneeb: one hand walked through, from the deal to the count.
- Tarneeb Strategy: bidding, trump play and defence.
- How to Play Spades: the full Spades rules.
- Tarnib, Tarneeb or طرنيب: one game, three spellings.