Russian American Cultural Club Hosts Durak Card Game Tournament

Samovar Russian tea maker

Last Thursday, the Russian American Cultural Club (RACC) hosted their sixth annual Durak card game tournament in the Howard Thurman Center. The RACC provided Russian tea and a spread of meat and cheese that was to die for.

Samovar Russian tea maker
Old-Fashioned Samovar. Traditionally, one would pour the super-concentrated tea into a cup, and then water it down with the water in the tank.| Photo courtesy of flikr user gruntzooki

“‘Durak’ means ‘stupid'” said RACC president Lada Kukuy (UNI ’11). “It’s a popular Russian game, so everyone plays. It’s a family game.”

Before teaching me how to play, Kukuy explained the history of the game. Unlike poker, which has French roots, Durak is strictly Russian. This, along with the fact that the game is “really simple,” explains why everyone in Russian knows how to play.

It may seem simple to some, but as Kukuy explained it to me, I was very confused. The easiest way to learn is to play, so we jumped right into it. You can find the rules here.

The game is played with a Russian deck, which has only 36 cards – 6 and up. The objective of Durak is to get rid of all of your cards, but there really are no winners, only a loser.  A player tries to empty their hand by “attacking” the “defender” (who is the loser of the previous hand) with a higher card. If the player can defend themselves with a higher card and nobody else can attack them, the cards are cleared. If the player cannot defend himself, they must take the cards into their own hand.

Now for the twist: Any player can attack the defender, but the defender must fend them off alone. As a result, Kukuy said, “it gets pretty vicious.”

In the end, the loser is supposed to do something silly. Kukuy gave acting like a chicken as an example.

The game becomes much easier to understand after playing a few rounds. At the RACC’s event, the room was broken down into different tables for beginners and advanced players. Although players spoke many different languages, everyone had a great time.

According to Margaret Carbery (CAS ’11), the vice president of the RACC, the Durak tournament has been happening every semester since the club’s revival in 2008.

RACC will host their Spring Festival on April 8th. The festival will consist of a Russian dinner in the GSU Alley and a dance party afterward with both Russian and American music. It is sure to be just as entertaining as the Durak tournament, and if it is, I fully intend to be there.

 

About Tara Jayakar

Tara is a senior at BU, studying English and Journalism. She enjoys nothing more then a good meal, a cup of coffee, and the bone-crushing force of a mosh pit.

View all posts by Tara Jayakar →

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