Chinchón
Meld your seven Spanish cards, close with 5 or less, and send the computer over 100.
Chinchón, the rummy game played in every bar and kitchen from Spain to Argentina, with the Spanish pack of 40 cards and against the computer. You hold seven cards: draw from the stock or take the last discard, throw one, and build sets of three or four of a kind and runs in one suit. Once your loose cards add up to 5 or less you can close the hand; close with nothing loose and you score minus ten, and seven in a row of one suit, the chinchón itself, wins the game on the spot. Every hand adds the cards left loose to each total, and whoever goes over 100 is out. Every day brings a Daily game with the same deals for everyone.
- Category
- Cards & Board
- Modes
- Easy · Medium · Hard · Daily
- Controls
- Mouse · Touch
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How to play
Chinchón uses the Spanish pack of 40: oros (coins), copas (cups), espadas (swords) and bastos (clubs), each running from the ace to the 7 and then the sota, the caballo and the rey (jack, knight and king). There are no 8s or 9s, so in a run the jack follows the 7, and the corners show the jack, knight and king as 8, 9 and 10: what they count. You each get seven cards and the next one is turned up to start the discard pile. On your turn take the top card of the stock or of the pile, then throw one face up (never the card you just took from the pile). A meld is three or four cards of one rank, or three or more in a row of one suit, the ace low only. A loose card counts its number. Once your loose cards come to 5 or less you may close: your eighth card goes face down, both hands go on the table and the computer lays its loose cards off on your melds (when it closes, yours are laid off on its melds the same way). Each of you adds what is left loose to your total; a close with nothing loose scores −10 instead, and then nothing may be laid off. Seven in a row of one suit is a chinchón: close with it and the game is yours on the spot. A close may never take you over 100. If the stock runs out, the discards are shuffled into a new one, once; if it runs out again, the hand ends and each of you adds the loose cards. Whoever goes over 100 is out, and the other wins. Your score: a win is worth 200 plus the points you stayed under 100 (100 more with a chinchón); a loss, the computer's total, up to 100.
What is Chinchón?
Chinchón is the rummy game of Spain and Latin America, the one played in bars, after long lunches and on family afternoons, with the Spanish pack of 40 cards. Each player tries to meld seven cards into sets and runs and close before the other, with as little as possible left loose; seven in a row of one suit, the chinchón that gives the game its name, wins outright.
Here you play against the computer, on three levels, and whoever goes over 100 points is out. Every day brings a Daily game with the same deals for everyone.
How to play Chinchón
You each get seven cards from the Spanish pack of 40, and the 15th card is turned up to start the discard pile.
- The pack. Four suits, oros (coins), copas (cups), espadas (swords) and bastos (clubs), each from the ace to the 7 and then the sota, caballo and rey (jack, knight and king). There are no 8s or 9s: the jack follows the 7, and the corners show the jack, knight and king as 8, 9 and 10, which is also what they count.
- Your turn. Take the top card of the stock or of the discard pile, then throw a card face up. The card you just took from the pile cannot go straight back.
- Melds. A set is three or four cards of one rank. A run is three or more cards in a row of one suit, with the ace low only: ace, 2, 3 is a run; king, ace, 2 is not.
- Loose cards. The cards outside your melds count their number. Your hand sorts itself into melds with the loose cards set apart, and their total is always on screen; one tap switches between runs first and sets first.
- Closing. Once your loose cards come to 5 or less, you may close: your eighth card goes face down and both hands are shown. The other side lays its loose cards off on the closer's melds, and each of you adds what is left loose to your total. A close may never take you over 100.
- Minus ten and chinchón. Close with every card melded and you score −10, and nothing may be laid off. Close with seven in a row of one suit, a chinchón, and you win the game on the spot.
- The end. If the stock runs out, the discards are shuffled into a new stock once; if it runs out again, the hand ends with no close. Whoever goes over 100 is out and the other wins. Your score: 200 for a win plus the points you stayed under 100 (100 more with a chinchón); for a loss, the computer's total, up to 100.
Tips and strategy
- Throw the figures first. A loose king costs you 10 if the computer closes; aces and 2s weigh almost nothing and make the best card to keep loose when you close.
- Aim for six and one. The usual close is two melds of three plus one low card. Keep a small card handy while you build.
- Watch the pile. The cards the computer takes from the pile are shown beside its hand and tell you what it is collecting. Do not feed it.
- Close early. A close catches the computer with everything it holds; waiting for −10 rarely pays unless all your cards already meld.
- Mind the 100. Near the limit, play safe: a close that would take you over 100 is not allowed, so hold low cards.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chinchón free?
Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account.
Why does the jack show an 8?
A Spanish pack prints 10, 11 and 12 on the jack, knight and king, but the pack of 40 has no 8s or 9s and the figures follow the 7. Here the corners show what each figure counts, 8, 9 and 10, so the numbers you see are the numbers that add up.
Can the computer lay off on my melds?
Yes, as the Spanish rules have it: when you close, the computer lays its loose cards off on your melds, and when it closes, yours are laid off on its melds the same way, by themselves. A close with every card melded allows no layoffs at all.
How do the levels differ?
On Easy the computer remembers nothing, takes a discard only to finish a meld and now and then throws carelessly. On Medium it remembers the cards you pick up and keeps clear of them. On Hard it remembers everything you show, counts the cards that would let it close and, holding six cards of a chinchón, plays on for the seventh. It never sees your hand or the stock.
What is the Daily game?
Every day everyone gets the same deals against the same computer on Medium, so scores compare directly on the leaderboard.
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