Card game in Tobolsk

[Sunny]

In some Tobolsk letters and memories from tutors, i recall i read Aleksej always used to play a card game named something like "If you go slow" (or something similar, at least).
I don't think it's the same thing of "Nain jaune", and i was wondering which game it could be. I tried to search in the web, but nothing came up, i suppose we should know the Russian name for it.
Does anyone knows anything about it?

[Rodney_G.]

I remember the game too, though not any sources. It's possible , maybe probable, it was a  created game, and not actually a card game, in other words , something Alexei made up in his boredom and into which he roped other players. In fact, that was my sense of the references to it when I read them.

[Sunny]

I remember the game too, though not any sources. It's possible , maybe probable, it was a  created game, and not actually a card game, in other words , something Alexei made up in his boredom and into which he roped other players. In fact, that was my sense of the references to it when I read them.

You may be right, i had the same impression; but i was curious to know if we were right or not and if not, what sort of game was!

[Sarushka]

In some Tobolsk letters and memories from tutors, i recall i read Aleksej always used to play a card game named something like "If you go slow" (or something similar, at least).
I don't think it's the same thing of "Nain jaune", and i was wondering which game it could be. I tried to search in the web, but nothing came up, i suppose we should know the Russian name for it.
Does anyone knows anything about it?

In Russian it's called Тише едешь дальше будешь. (Translated idiomatically: Slow and Steady Wins the Race.) Maria mentions it in a letter of 19 September 1915. I don't know the details, but it was definitely different from Nain Jaune, which was a board game played with cards and betting tokens. Apparently the imperial children also played Тише едешь дальше будешь with soldiers and officers at the lazaret. (See Royal Sisters of Mercy, pg 136.)


ETA: Here's a site with playing instructions in Russian:
http://www.detskiysad.ru/igraem/igry025.html

[Sunny]

In some Tobolsk letters and memories from tutors, i recall i read Aleksej always used to play a card game named something like "If you go slow" (or something similar, at least).
I don't think it's the same thing of "Nain jaune", and i was wondering which game it could be. I tried to search in the web, but nothing came up, i suppose we should know the Russian name for it.
Does anyone knows anything about it?

In Russian it's called Тише едешь дальше будешь. (Translated idiomatically: Slow and Steady Wins the Race.) Maria mentions it in a letter of 19 September 1915. I don't know the details, but it was definitely different from Nain Jaune, which was a board game played with cards and betting tokens. Apparently the imperial children also played Тише едешь дальше будешь with soldiers and officers at the lazaret. (See Royal Sisters of Mercy, pg 136.)


ETA: Here's a site with playing instructions in Russian:
http://www.detskiysad.ru/igraem/igry025.html

Thanks so much Sarah. What a needed was exactly the Russian names. Thanks again and expecially for the link!

[Inok Nikolai]

In Russian it's called Тише едешь дальше будешь. (Translated idiomatically: Slow and Steady Wins the Race.) Maria mentions it in a letter of 19 September 1915. I don't know the details, but it was definitely different from Nain Jaune, which was a board game played with cards and betting tokens. Apparently the imperial children also played Тише едешь дальше будешь with soldiers and officers at the lazaret. (See Royal Sisters of Mercy, pg 136.)


ETA: Here's a site with playing instructions in Russian:
http://www.detskiysad.ru/igraem/igry025.html

The game is similar to our "Mother May I", with the same basic rules and goal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_may_i

Since Tsarevich Alexis was ill so often, he (or someone from the Imperial family or staff) came up with a card game / board game version of it that he could play while in bed.

[blessOTMA]

I love how when Marie and Alix played cards, they would take turns winning  lol!

[Sunny]

I've just read the link Sarushka provided me yesterday night - in Italy we have a game which is almost identical! It's called "1-2-3-Stella" (1,2,3 - Star) and the rules are pretty the same. Of course it's not a card game but, as Inok Nikolai made us notice, it can converted into this to allow Alexej, who was so long in bed, to play it.

We have also a game which is exactly "Mother, May I" according to the link Inok Nikolai provided us, and it's called "Nel mio castello" (In my castle). The rules are exactly the same.
It's interesting to find out that, all over the world, children play similar games with few retouches to rules, and simply giving different names!

[RomanovMartyrs]

In some Tobolsk letters and memories from tutors, i recall i read Aleksej always used to play a card game named something like "If you go slow" (or something similar, at least).
I don't think it's the same thing of "Nain jaune", and i was wondering which game it could be. I tried to search in the web, but nothing came up, i suppose we should know the Russian name for it.
Does anyone knows anything about it?

In Russian it's called Тише едешь дальше будешь. (Translated idiomatically: Slow and Steady Wins the Race.) Maria mentions it in a letter of 19 September 1915. I don't know the details, but it was definitely different from Nain Jaune, which was a board game played with cards and betting tokens. Apparently the imperial children also played Тише едешь дальше будешь with soldiers and officers at the lazaret. (See Royal Sisters of Mercy, pg 136.)


ETA: Here's a site with playing instructions in Russian:
http://www.detskiysad.ru/igraem/igry025.html

Thanks for the link.

Reading it, it sounds like American Red Light Green Light really. I'm not sure how that could possibly transfer over to a card game?

The more literal translation of the name would be "Gently Going, Further Be," which in Russian makes more sense than in the literal English; Russian words tend to weigh more, so it's like "Go peacefully and you'll go farther."

[Inok Nikolai]

Okay, now we need help identifying another card game the Imperial children sometimes played:

"Kabala" -- please note that the name comes from the Russian word кабала (one "b", one "l"), meaning slavery or servitude.

For the record, it is not related to the esoteric Jewish teaching called Kabbalah.

I know older Russians who remember playing it. They say that it is indeed a card game, but they can't remember any details after so many years.

Anyone out there have a clue?

Thanks!

[Rodney_G.]

Okay, now we need help identifying another card game the Imperial children sometimes played:

Thanks!

Interesting. Where did you discover that the Imperial children played this game, Inok Nikolai?

[Inok Nikolai]

Okay, now we need help identifying another card game the Imperial children sometimes played:

Thanks!

Interesting. Where did you discover that the Imperial children played this game, Inok Nikolai?

In a letter to Lili Dehn in April 1917, G. D. Olga writes: "Trina plays kabala with Maria, and she gets very upset when she loses."

And in a letter from Ekaterinburg to Tobolsk in April 1918, the Empress and Maria say that they are playing kabala with Botkin and the others.

I should have noted that the accent in the word is on the last "a": kabalA

The old Russian woman whom I asked about it was surprised and a bit startled that we had even heard of it. She recalled playing the card game, but after the passage of so many years, she couldn't recall the basic rules or
course of the game.

It's not terribly important, we just want to compose a short, informative footnote to the letters.

[Rodney_G.]

Thanks, Inok Nikolai. I guess from the letters you cited that kabala may be played with just two players or with four or more. Although we know it happens , it's disappointing that a reasonably popular game would so fall out of fashion that almost no one remembers it .

[Antonina]

There is a great article in Russian about ALL the table games Romanovs used to play: http://tesera.ru/article/romanovs/
I recommend!)) And "Тише едешь - дальше будешь" was a table game too, not the very famous game that looks like "Mother May I". It was a surprise for me.

[Inok Nikolai]

There is a great article in Russian about ALL the table games Romanovs used to play: http://tesera.ru/article/romanovs/
I recommend!)) And "Тише едешь - дальше будешь" was a table game too, not the very famous game that looks like "Mother May I". It was a surprise for me.

Wow!

Thank you very much! This is extremely helpful in explaining things in footnotes to the Letters from Captivity.

I just now joined that group and posed the question about Kabala.

I'll report back if they find anything.

Thanks again!
I N