Konter a Matt

Konter a Matt, also called Kontra a Matt or Konter a Midd, is a Luxembourgish trick-taking card game for four players in two fixed partnerships, with partners seated opposite one another. It uses a stripped 24-card deck running from ace down to nine in four suits, with the ace worth four points, the king three, the queen two and the jack one. The trump suit is fixed at the start of each game, and the queens of spades, hearts and diamonds are always trumps; the two red queens are the Kontra trumps and the queen of spades is the Matt, which gives the game its name. Players must follow the suit led or play a trump. A team needs more than 21 points to win, and a match lasts at least three games, scored by crossing out stripes. A player may announce Kontra or Matt before the first card to raise the stakes.