the trump suit. Later, this was simplified so that the level of the contract was the only thing the value of the trick depended on. Towards the end of the 19th century, the kitty was added to the game. The highest bidder took a kitty of 4 cards to his hand and gave one card for every other player before the card play started. Towards the end of the 19th century, also the card exchange mechanism used in Skruuvi was born. The highest bidder took the kitty in his hand, gave 4 cards for his partner, who, in turn, gave one card for every other player. This enabled the declarer side to arrange themselves very shaped hands, which lead to higher contracts. The first rule book for bridge, dated 1886, was Biritch, or Russian Whist written by John Collinson, an English financier working in Ottoman Constantinople (now Istanbul). It and his subsequent letter to The Saturday Review dated May 28, 1906, document the origin of Biritch as being the Russian community in Constantinople. The word biritch is thought to be a transliteration of the Russian word Бирюч (бирчий, бирич), an occupation of a herald or announcer. There are references to Vint in classical Russian literature, notably in the short stories of Anton Chekhov, and in Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The composer Tchaikovsky was a very enthusiastic player. Skruuvi Skruuvi is a Finnish variant of Vint, and it became common in Finland while it was a part of Russia. The rules of Skruuvi diverged slowly from Vint, and the rules were codified in the 1940s in the books Skruuviopas by the pseudonym O.L. and Uusi täydellinen skruuvipelin ohjekirja by the pseudonym E.N. Maalari. Skruuvi is still played in Finland as a niche hobby whereas Vint is not played in Russia. Helsingin Suomalainen Klubi still organizes annual Toro Skruuvi tournament in honour of Arvo Ylppö, an enthusiastic Skruuvi player. Skruuvi uses a bidding system similar to bridge, but the emphasis of the bidding system is more in signifying individual high cards, similar to slam-investigating cue bids in bridge. Differences from vint In Skruuvi, as described by E.N. Maalari, there is a kitty of four cards that the declarer side gets after bidding, and the game involves some exchange of cards so that everyone ends up with 13 cards. After the exchange of cards, the bidding continues, but only the members of