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Giochi: Carte e Scacchi / Games: Cards and Chess

Playing games is a very common pastime in Italy, especially amongst elderly people, although you will hardly find an Italian youngster who is unable to play the most common card games.

In this Italian vocabulary lesson, you will learn words used in the most popular games, such as  chess, checkers, and cards.

There’s also a list of expressions deriving from card games, a rich source of metaphor!

giocare a dama [play draughts / checkers]

giocare a scacchi [play chess]
la scacchiera [chessboard]
il pedone [pawn]
la torre [castle / rook]
il cavallo [knight]
l’alfiere [bishop]
il re [king]
la regina [queen]
lo scacco matto [checkmate]

giocare a carte [to play cards]
giocare per i soldi = giocare d’azzardo [to gamble]
il solitario [solitaire]
l’asso [ace]
il re [king]
la regina [queen]
il fante [jack]

carte italiane [Italian cards]
The four suits in ‘Italian’ cards are:
i denari [money]
le spade [swords]
le coppe [cups]
i bastoni [clubs]

carte francesi [French cards]
The four suits in ‘French’ (that is to say ‘international’) cards are:
i cuori [hearts]
i quadri [diamonds]
i fiori [clubs]
le picche [spades]

La frasi tipiche del gioco delle carte [typical card-game expressions]

dare le carte → mescolare le carte e distribuirle a giocatori
[to deal the cards]

imbrogliare le carte → creare confusione nelle carte, travisare qualcosa
[to shuffle the cards, to distort something]

leggere o fare le carte a qualcuno → predire il futuro a qualcuno interpretando le carte
[to read someone’s cards, to predict their future]

fare una partita a carte → giocare a carte
[to play cards]

cambiare una carta → prendere una carta dal mazzo e sostituirla a una che abbiamo in mano
[to take a card from the deck to replace one in your hand]

mettere le carte in tavola → esporre sinceramente il proprio pensiero o le informazioni che si hanno
[to honestly expose your thoughts or the information you have]

cambiare le carte in tavola → cambiare le regole o le condizioni generali senza preavviso
[to change the rules or the terms and conditions without notice]

giocare l’ultima carta → fare l’ultimo tentativo
[to play your last card, to make a last attempt]

avere delle buone carte → avere buone possibilità, opportunità
[to have good cards, a good chance, opportunities]

giocare a carte scoperte → non nascondere nulla
[to have an open hand, to not be hiding anything]

Some of the most popular Italian card games are briscola, scopa, tresette, rubamazzo, scala 40 and Machiavelli…

To find out more, type ‘Come giocare a [name of the game]’ in your favourite search engine. There are a number of Italian websites that offer detailed explanations of how to play.

Wikipedia.it is also a good source of information, and reading practice!

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