Durak

First attack

Ace is the highest card of each suit and six is the lowest. A trump card of any rank beats all cards of the other three suits. For example a six of the trump suit beats an ace of any other suit.

The attacker opens their turn by playing one card face up on the table as an attacking card. The player to the attacker's left is the defender. They respond to the attack card with a defending card.

Defense

The defender attempts to beat the attack card by playing a higher ranking defending card from their hand. For example if the attacker plays an 8 of spades the defender must play a higher spade such as the 10 of spades or a card from the trump suit to defend successfully. The defender must match the suit of the attack card or play a card of the trump suit (the suit of the card placed below the deck). The defending cards are placed on top of the attack card overlapping it so both cards are visible and its clear which cards are attacking and defending cards.

After the first attack if the defender defends it successfully the attacker may make a new attack, if they cannot or refuses to then the player to the left of the defender may start a new attack or pass the chance to attack to the next non-defender going clockwise around the table. For each new attack which is defended successfully by the defender, the player who led that attack (played the last attack card) may start a new attack. After the original attack, attacks can only be made if the new attack card matches a card which has already been played during that round. If the player who led the last attack doesn't want to attack again (and all future attacks during the round of attacks) then the original attacker may make a new attack, if they pass on making an attack then players to the defenders left may attack or pass and so on going clockwise around the table. There cannot be more than six attacks in each round of attacks. Each new attack card is placed to the left of the last attack card and the defender plays their defense card on top of the new attack card creating a row of attack and defense cards. The defender must respond to the new attack in the same fashion as the first attack by playing a card of the same suit of the new attack card with a higher rank or a trump card. All other players may make a new attack if the defender has successful defended the last attack. The original attacker has priority for making an attack, then the player to defender's left has priority and so forth going clockwise. Some variants only allow cards to be added to the attack once the first defending card has been played.

At any point during a round of attacks, if a defender is unwilling or unable to beat the most recent attack card, they may give up their defense and must pick up all the cards played during that round of attack (all face up cards on the table). In addition to the defender picking up all the face up cards on the table, the other players may shed cards which have already been played (face up cards) which the defender must also pick up. In this case the round of attacks end and the player to the defender's left starts the a new round of attacks.

If, however, the defender has beaten all attacking cards and no other players are willing to make another attack or if the defender beats the sixth attack card, the defender has won the round of attacks. In this case all cards from that round of attack are placed in the discard pile and the defender starts a new round of attacks as the attacker and the player to his or her left becomes the new defender.

No players may examine the discard pile at any point.

End of turn

At the end of each round of attacks against a defender, whether or not the defense was successful, each player draws new cards from the deck until they have six cards in their hand unless the deck has been exhausted. The main attacker draws as many cards as necessary first, followed by any other attackers in clockwise order, and finally the defender. Players who play their final card leave the hand and do not draw new cards from the deck. The defenders final card must beat the last attack card, otherwise they must pick up all the cards played during that round of attacks.

Winning and losing

The last person left with cards in their hand is the loser (the fool or "durak"). In some variants, this player becomes the dealer for the next round. The player to the fool's right may become the first attacker for the next round.

Some variants declare the winner of the round to be the first player to exhaust their hand and leave. In others, there are no winners, only the loser.

Team play

With four (2 vs. 2) or six players (2 vs. 2 vs. 2 or 3 vs. 3), it is possible to play in teams. The members of each team sit opposite one another (with two players on each team), or alternating (with three). In some variants, the team with the lowest trump starts the first round, but in subsequent rounds the winning team from the previous round begins.

When playing in teams, players may not add to attacks on their teammates.

"Fool with epaulettes"

If the last card played by an attacker is a six, and the defender loses, the defender is cheerfully pronounced durak s pogonom (дурак с погоном, a fool with an epaulette), and the six may be placed on the shoulder of the loser. This is more insulting than simply declaring the loser durak ("fool"), because of the handicap of keeping a low-value six card through the final part of the game. If the attacker plays two sixes, it is an even more cheerful occasion of "epaulettes on both shoulders".

Some variants use the epaulettes as scoring points. If someone has a six as an epaulette, the opponents must next score against them using a seven, and so on until someone receives an ace as an epaulette. To score, the winning individual or team must not only end with the correct epaulette value, but must include at least one non-trump card in the final attack.