text:
Should our 1D opening be alerted?
My partner and I play a weak 1NT (12-14 HCP) and 1C can be real (5+ card) or 15-19 HCP. If we have a 5 card major, we open it.
Because we have a bid promising a balanced hand with every range. This has lead to our 1D opening always promising an unbalanced hand.
The Dutch (I think they are just the international) rules say that every bid which your opponents might not know the correct meaning of should be alerted.
I have been alerting the bid saying "my partner promises real diamonds either 5+ or any 4441 (with 4 diamonds) and always an unbalanced hand".
Is it nessecary to alert this in regular contract bridge?

Rules on alerts are specified by the sponsoring organization, and may well be different for games played under different organization.
The ACBL alert chart does not specifically mandate an alert for a 1D bid wqhich promises an unbalanced hand, but does require an alert for "Natural Calls Not Specifically Noted" which show "Unusual strength, shape, etc". The ACBL Alert procedure says:

The objective of the Alert system is for both pairs at the table to have equal access to all information contained in any auction. In order to meet this goal, it is necessary that all players understand and practice the principles of Full Disclosure and Active Ethics. Ethical bridge players will recognize the obligation to give complete explanations. They will accept the fact that any such information is entirely for the benefit of the opponents, and may not be used to assist their own partnership.
This procedure uses the admittedly "fuzzy" terminology of "highly unusual and unexpected" as the best practical solution to simplifying the Alert Procedure. "Highly unusual and unexpected" should be determined in light of historical usage rather than local geographical usage. To ensure full disclosure, however, at the end of the auction and before the opening lead declarers are encouraged to volunteer to explain the auction (including available inferences)

In light of that, I would be inclined to alert the 1D opening. Or I might ask a local director before the game if such a bid should be alerted. If in doubt it is always better to alert than not.
Note that one should never say more than "alert" until and unless an opponent asks for an alert to be explained. Offering an explanation unasked can itself be a violation.
In an informal game not sponsored by any organization, procedures are whatever the players agree on.

The 1D bid should not be alerted.
The 1C bid should be announced as "May be short".
Note that rebids of 1N after the 1C opening should be alerted (because it's 15-17).  I don't know what your rebid of 1N after a 1D means, but quite possibly it should be alerted even if natural.
As a courtesy to your opponents, you should tell your opponents that you're playing weak NT with 1D unbalanced before the round starts, but this isn't required.
You are playing a fairly standard weak 1N (12-14) system; putting all your balanced hands in 1C isn't all that strange, particularly if you open 1D when you have a balanced hand with 5 diamonds.

Note, OP says 1D "promises" an unbalanced hand, either 5+ or 4441, no other 4-card pattern. a balanced hand with 5 D would be opened either 1NT or 1C, depending on strength, as I understand the OP.

I too believe you are misunderstanding the system. OP clearly states that 1D promises an unbalanced hand, namely an unspecified singleton or void, in many hands w/o 4D - much like the old Precsion 1D opening. This is definitely unexpected, in the extreme, so requires an alert plus a pre-alert so I can adjust my defense. In particular, the odds of 1C being a 15-19 NT are much higher than it being a 15+ hand with 5+ Clubs, so I really want to enable my 1NT defenses against that. Bonus - I can adjust them by strength to play weak / strong at 1 and 2 level.

Adding in 11-14 unbalanced hands with clubs (which are 1C openers in this system), I'm pretty sure that 1C is still more likely a club hand.  Systems with a weak NT and normal minor openers don't have any alerts (except for the 1N rebid).  Systems with strong NT but 1D unbalanced don't have any alerts (unless you count the 1C announcement).  It's hard to see why having both would suddenly require an alert.

I know pairs that play 10-12 1N, with 1D diamonds or 12-14 balanced, and 1C clubs or 15-17 balanced.  (1D can be 5 clubs and 2 diamonds in a balanced hand, and vice versa for 1C.)  They have been almost universally told by directors to announce, not alert, their 1C/1D openers.

The ACBL Alert Chart states (line 1) that:

Natural Calls Not Specifically Noted [with] Unusual strength, shape, etc

must be alerted. Both your 1C and 1D opening bids imply unusual strength and shape requirements, and so must be alerted.
In addition the ACBL Alert Procedures guide states:

Systems that may be Fundamentally Unfamiliar to the Opponents
When you play a system structured along different agreements than [those described in the preceding paragraph], you should draw the opponents’ attention to your convention card before the round begins. In short, if you play a system that most players would not immediately recognize ... or one the opponents may wish to discuss before the auction begins ...),
you are required to pre-Alert the opponents.

In my opinion your 1C and 1D openings are such a system agreement, and I would expect a pre-alert along the lines of:

All non-forcing openings intending to rebid 1NT or 2NT are opened with 1C.
Unbalanced hands of the same ranges with no 5+ Major or Club suit are opened 1D.

I am adamant on the pre-alert because the very advantage that you receive from this agreement is one that the opponents may wish to mitigate by modifying their defenses for.
I can easily conceive of defending your 1C opening as a 15-19 NT, and competing at the 2 level with our 1NT defense. This will interfere with your ability to distinguish between your 15-17 and 18-19 NT openings, and reduce your game bidding accuracy on 3NT and 4M contracts. I would enjoy seeing how that works out for you and partner.
;-)
TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

"Unbalanced hands ... with no 5+ Major are opened 1D." does not describe the specified system. A unbalanced hand with 5C, a 4-card major, 3D and a singleton in the other major would not be opened 1D, nor would other unbalanced hands lacking a 4+ card D suit. Some such hands would be opened 1C, with  no intent to rebid NT.

I wonder how this system opens a hand with 6D, 5C, and opening strength. I rather suspect 1D.Also your wording suggests that 4441 hands are opened 1D even if the short suit is D, but the OP says not.

@DavidSiegel: Nope. My suggested pre-alert doesn't say or imply that. My comment to Alexander Woo's post does though.

"Unbalanced hands of the same ranges with no 5+ Major or Club suit are opened 1D." seems to imply that ALL such hands are opened 1D , and possibly that ONLY such hands are opened 1D. It seems that neither of those are correct. Why not pre-alert in terms of what 1D promises rather than what it denies?

@DavidSiegel: No, that is a logical fallacy. When one states "A imples B" there is never a valid deduction that "B imples A". I have described a type of hand, and the bid that will be made with it. I have made no statement restricting that bid to those hands.

"Regular Contract Bridge" doesn't really have a meaning, especially when it comes to Alerting.  In rubber bridge, you usually are playing cut-for-partners, so the system is specified by the Club (what happens at informal rubber is up to the players).  In duplicate, L40A1b assigns how players make their system known to the opponents to the Regulating Authority.  So any question on Alerting depends on your RA.
As you said, the Dutch use pretty much the World Bridge Federation rules (note that these are not "what the WBF tells people to use", these are "what is in force for games run specifically by the WBF"; i.e. where the WBF itself is the RA).  Those are really designed for high-level play with screens, and say a lot of "Alert what should be Alertable"; which works for their players, maybe not so much at a regular club.  But it works for the NBB, so what do I know?  Under those regulations, as you also said, you should Alert it as it is uncommon enough to be unexpected.
Side note: "Alert what the opponents are likely not to understand" leads to a lot of Alerting, which in face-to-face play leads to a lot of Unauthorized Information passed by partnerships, even if it is just "I remember our system, partner".  With screens, each player Alerts their screenmate, without passing information to the other side of the screen, so "overAlerting" is safe.  This also applies online with self-Alerts, which is why most RAs have an "if online, explain anything that you think should be explained".
Most of the answers here use the ACBL as the RA.  If you're not playing ACBL events (North America, or the online NABCs), that's only relevant as an example of how "where you play matters", as opposed to "there's a global answer".  However ACBL regulations are relevant to a lot of this stack's players, and the Alert Procedure has changed for 2021, unfortunately invalidating the other answers.  Here's how it works as of January 2021:

The system is now pre-Alertable (because 1C is not Natural to the definitions); at the beginning of the round, you will explain that your 1C is "clubs or balanced".  It's probably best in the pre-Alert to also make clear that 1D is "always unbalanced".  Note: you should know whether for you, 2=2=5=4, or 5D332, 6D322 or 7D222 are balanced or not, and if it's quick to explain, then do that here too.

Your Announcement for 1C is now "could be 2" (which is what all the "could be short" people were doing anyway).  If asked, of course, you explain "real clubs or balanced 15-19", with explanations of what is balanced again if asked.

1D is not in the list of Alertable Natural bids.  However, the Alert Procedures do not make it wrong to Alert something that "feels wrong not to Alert" as long as it's not on a list of "do not Alert" calls. I would feel uncomfortable having not either Pre-Alerted it (although it is technically not Pre-Alertable) or Alerting it when bid (although it is technically not a required Alert).  My feeling is that one is sufficient, and the pre-Alert is better.  Again, if asked, you explain "5+ or 4D441, always unbalanced" (again, with your definition of balanced).

Online (Appendix O), you explain when you bid, whether it's Alertable or not: "You are encouraged to explain calls even if those calls do not require alerts." Pre-Alert is still required.

Finally, with all RAs, remember that the primary goal is L40B1a: "Each partnership has a duty to make its partnership understandings available to its opponents" (my emphasis).  You are required to do it the way the RA requires, but using the technical letter of the regulations to minimize disclosure is a violation of the Law.


text:
Blinds & Antes confusion
I'm new to Texas Hold Em.  I know the difference between a blind and an ante but I'm confused as to how they are played. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
An ante is put up by each player. Then two players also put a small and big blind?  So now if someone who didn't put up a blind wants to play do they now give an additional amount equal to the big blind to play, or do they subtract what they've already anted from the big blind and just put up the difference?
Also how is the ante amount determined in regards to blinds?

Using Roberts Rules an ante is defined as

A prescribed amount posted before the start of a hand by all players.

So the ante has no effect on the amount paid by blinds.  Each player posts there ante before the hand starts.  These chips are then moved to the pot and its in effect 'dead money'  it has no bearing on how much players play in blinds.
I'm not aware of a hard and fast formula for calculating an ante in live tournaments its roughly the size of the big blind divided by number of players max at a table.
so in live games I've played is Big blind in 200 the ante is usually 25.  This will probably vary from game to game and casino to casino.
In recent games I've played the rules have changed to the Big Blind or button posting the ante for all players.
So if the rules are "button antes" and the blinds are 100-200 the button also posts 200 before the hand begins.  The advantage of doing this is speeding up the time takes to take the antes in rather than every player all posting the same amount each time, invariably one player always having to be reminded and change sorted if needed.

It's common enough, IMX, to play with blinds only, no antes - both in tournaments and cash games. This is especially a good idea for bar-league tournaments where sometimes it's hard enough to make sure everyone is putting up the blinds properly :)

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text:
Responding to partner's double in Party Bridge
The dealer bid 1♣.
I am the second chair and had no high card points and no 5 card major. My highest card was a ♥9 therefore, I passed.
The dealer's partner raised her bid to 2♠. My partner doubled the 2♠ and the dealer re-doubled.
Recap:
  1C   P   2S   Dbl
  RDbl ?

Based on 0 high card points and no 5 card major I pass or bid. If I bid what should I bid?

Please specify your bidding system.  Answers will vary greatly among systems.  Are you using Standard American (or variation)?  ACOL?

@ryanyuyu: Generally, our system is irrelevant in this circumstance and only the Opponent's system is relevant. If Opener is showing strength we are in an escape sequence, and system options over a Redouble are very limited - bid or call - and rather obvious. Only in the very unusual case that Opener's Redouble shows weakness (Does anyone anywhere play that?) might there be variance.

To potential close voters - this question contains everything necessary to be answered - unless a very very very unusualsystem is being played by Opponents. Please vote to keep open. That the question is flagged  as Party Bridge strongly suggests that very standard systems are in effect.

@ForgetIwaseverhere would you include precision bidding systems as "very standard" ? As this particular example strongly reminds me of a precision bidding opening where 1C indicates purely strength; and the redouble confirms that they're happy with clubs as the suit to be chosen.

The Redouble is of a Spade call - presumably you meant to say that a Precision Redouble call by the 1C Opener expresses satisfaction with Responder's denomination - Spades in this case.I see no sense in expressing an opinion on CLubs when neither Opener nor Responder has shown any Club values or length.

The analysis at bottom was based on an incorrect reading of Opener's first call, as being 1S rather than the current 1C. This doesn't actually change the response structure much, but it does make a big difference in the understanding of what is going on. Before, Opponents were in a confirmed Spade fit and headed to either a nine or ten contract in that suit, with the slight chance of doubling your side for a modest penalty. That's no longer the case, but there are two possibilities.

LHO has made a Strong Jump Shift into 2S
Ouch! Opponents are very likely to get a good score on this hand. The goal is to entice them to try for their slam, while making as few bids as possible on your side, as uninformatively as possible. Then hope they go down one in their slam, or pass on it when it might have made. Be prepared to lose a telephone number if opponents double, but hope that number, but that that number (800, 1100 or 1400) is less than their slam might have been (920 not vulnerable, 1430 vulnerable).
To do this:

Bid a five card Minor suit if you have one;
Bid a four card Heart suit if you have it;
Bid a four card minor if you have shortness in any other suit;
Pass - informing partner you have no preference on the escape suit.

LHO has made a Weak Jump Shift into 2S.
This call typically shows 5-9 HCP with a decent 6 card suit containing most of the points. Opener's Redouble suggests they have about 22 points to your side's 18, give or take. The goal is to quickly find a three-level fit where you might get out for down 1 doubled.
To wit:

Bid a five card Minor suit if you have one;
Bid a four card Heart suit if you have it;
Bid a four card minor if you have shortness in any other suit;
Pass - informing partner you have no preference on the escape suit.

Notice - both bidding structures are the same. Opener's Redouble has removed the burden of a forced call from you, by ensuring Partner another call. Thus you suggest an escape suit only if you have a distinct preference.
Also, in all cases Opener's Redouble is suggesting that their side collect a penalty; but at the cost just noted. It likely suggests a doubleton Spade holding. This means you are not showing values with any call, but just distributional preference.
To finish, a little follow up:

Pass any and all bids by partner, whether you bid or passed.
Pass any and all future Doubles Partner might venture. If it is a Double of a slam reached by Opponents assume it is lead directing and act accordingly.
If Partner Redoubles a Double of your suit it is SOS, asking you to choose between the other two suits not being Spades. Making a Takeout Double with a two suiter hand is an abominable call - but somehow partners occasionally decide to do it anyways
If Partner Redoubles his own suit, he is either brilliant or a dunce. In either case Pass and keep out of his way - it's all on him.

And finally, if you end up as Declarer, expect bad breaks and protect against them if you can. For this much action on the hand I expect two or three singletons and voids to show up around the table.

The general agreement, across a wide variety of systems, is that this Redouble will not be left in by your side because Opener has shown a better than minimum hand, probably 16+. (If Opponent's agreement is different, then the following may not apply.)
In consequence, knowing that Partner has asked you to assume a three-suiter, you should make a minimal call in any suit other than Spades precisely when you have a preference. Generally this would mean showing:

a four card Heart suit;
a five card minor suit; or
a four card minor suit with shortness (singleton or doubleton) in either the other minor or in Hearts.

If you fail to make a bid you have assured him that you have none of the hands above, and he will then make a final call for your side based on that knowledge.
The goal in this auction is to quickly find a fit good enough that the opponents are not sure of a set - and so re-enter the auction with a bid rather than a double. It's Poker Time. Keep a straight face; don't agonize over your call; don't give away any tells; and of course don't react to whatever Partner chooses to do.

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text:
How to score the Southampton to New York route in Ticket to Ride UK?
In Ticket to Ride UK, when the Southampton to New York route is claimed, does the claimant receive the points for laying down train cars in addition to the 40 points stated on the board?
If so, how many points do they get?

Nothing extra. 40 points is the amount gained for a 10-car route.

The progression of the number of points earned per car is roughly linear.
Length  Points  PerCar  Maps
------  ------  ------  -------------------------------
     1       1    1.00  [Common]
     2       2    1.00  [Common]
     3       4    1.33  [Common]
     4       7    1.75  [Common]
     5      10    2.00  [Common]
     6      15    2.50  [Common]
     7      18    2.57  Germany (x4), Pennsylvania (x1)
     8      21    2.63  Europe (x1), India (x1)
     9      27    3.00  Nordic Countries (x1)
    10      40    4.00  UK (x1)

As you can see, getting 40 points for a 10-car route fits the regular progression. It wouldn't make sense for the 40 points to be in addition to the roughly 40 points one would expect to get from just laying down the cars.

Looking at that graph, if anything 40 points is already higher than might be expected.

If we assume the points form a line, one would expect 47 points (looking at the trains of length 1..9) or 40 points (looking at the trains of length 2..9). Graph

No. You get 40 points, the largest possible award of points in the game. There is no entry for a 10-wagon route on the points table; there are longer ones, e.g. 18 points for a 7-wagon route on the Pennsylvania map. See comments for more...

I think the Nordic Countries map has a length 9, 27 pointer on the table and there's a length 8, 21 pointer on the India map.

The Europe map also has a length 8 route.

@Jontia, Henrik : You are both correct. I edited my answer to reflect that.


text:
Cappelletti Overcalled
If the intervener is overcalled by a responders to the 1NT what are the options for the advancer in addition to the standard responses. Is he now allowed to pass meaning partner I cannot help.

Assumption:

Your partnership agreement for Capelletti is as outlined on Wikipedia
Absolutely Advancer can pass; the work of interference has been performed. Doing so is a de facto statement by Advancer that he is uninterested in continuing the auction, either because of a paucity of points or lack of fit or both.
The general philosophy is the same for a preemptive opening at the 2-level or higher: the initial bid should be so descriptive that there is no temptation by the initial caller (Intervenor in this case) to continue the auction unilaterally.

Absolutely Advancer can pass --- surely they'd better not pass the artificial 2C or 2D with 0 HCP and a 4333, though.

@FedericoPoloni: Whenever the hand is a potential misfit it is imperative to give the opponents useful information as slowly as possible. If Advancer has a one-suiter himself in either Clubs or Diamonds, and especially if weak, it is quite appropriate to pass (with intent of converting an opposing Double to 2D in the latter case). Asking Overcaller to identify his suit in this case immediately tells opponents how to play or defend the hand - before the auction is even over. Just. Don't. Do. That.

@FedericoPoloni: If Advancer has a 4333 hand that guarantees  a double fit of at least 8-7 - and potentially 8-8 or 9-8 - or a single fit of 9+. Even with 0 points Advancer is positively interested in continuing the interference in this case, as Overcaller's shortness is valuable in a Dummy Reversal.

Strong agreement. Partner's Cappelletti interference indicates that there is a mine field of at least some distributional surprise in store for the opponents (should they own the hand and try a game contract). It is imperative not to hand them a map pin-pointing the locations of the mines (as well as the opportunity to penalize your side). Of course, with the sign of a fit, you pre-empt all you are worth (on weak hands).


text:
In Sequence, can I add to both ends of a completed sequence to make it 2 sequences?
Can we win in Sequence by having 5 in a row using the middle numbers and then add on to both ends to create a total of 10 in a row?

I've never played this but reading the rules here it seems explicit you can not.

A connected series of five of the same colored chip either up or down, across or diagonally on the playing surface.

I'm assuming this is the definition of 'Sequence' as its not stated elsewhere in rules.  This however is the key rule with emphasis mine

If you are playing the game which requires two SEQUENCES to win, you
  may use any one of the spaces from your first SEQUENCE as part of your
  second.

So you can just use ONE of your original Sequence.  If you add onto both ends of a 5 then you will be using more than one.
I don't see however why you couldn't extend 5 into a line of 9 meaning you have two sequences of 5 as this using just one of the original sequence. But it looks as you you may not extend both ends the way those rules are written.


text:
In Uno, if I play a Wild Card and pick a color, can I also play a card in that color?
If I put down a Wild Card and choose a color, can I then also straight away play a card in that color?

No, you can only play one card per turn.
Let’s Play

On your turn...
  Example: If the card on the Discard pile is a red 7, the player must put down a red card OR any color 7. Alternatively, the player can put down a Wild Card...

Functions of Action Cards

Wild Card – When you play this card, you get to choose the color that continues
  play (any color including the color in play before the Wild card was laid down)...

Here's a great place to read the rules for yourself:
From mattel.com: UNO Rules 2018

No. After you play a card, the next player takes the next turn.
From the rules:

Wild – This card represents all four colors, and can be placed on any card. The player has to state which color it will represent for the next player.

(emphasis added)

A source would be appreciated, like the answer of Ola Ström.


text:
Can I play a different colored Draw 2 Card on top of a Draw 2 Card in Uno or Uno Flip
In a three player game:
- Player A plays a Yellow +2 Card
- Player B picks up 2 cards
- Player C plays a Green +2 Card
Is player C allowed to change colors, on the basis of a punishing card?

Yes, Player C can play a different colored Draw 2 Card on top of Player A's Draw 2 Card.

Draw 2 Card - ... This card may only be played on a matching color or
  on another Draw 2 card.

Here's a great place to read the rules yourself:
From mattel.com: https://service.mattel.com/instruction_sheets/42001pr.pdf


text:
UNO Stacking Wild Draw 4 Cards?
Please settle an UNO debate with regards to Wild Draw 4.
The face card on top of the pile is a Blue 0.
Player 1 plays WD4 but does not change the color.
Player 2 plays WD4 changes the color to Blue.
Player 3 challenges player 2 on having Blue cards.  Who is being challenge player 1 or 2?

According to official uno rules:

Wild Draw Four – This acts just like the wild card except that the
  next player also has to draw four cards as well as forfeit his/her
  turn.

Emphasis mine.
This means player 2 already made an illegal play according to the official rules and you are playing under house rules. As you are playing house rules there is no official answer.
However when it comes to challenging the rules state:

With this card, you must have no other alternative cards to play that matches the color of the card previously played. If you play this card illegally, you may be challenged by the other player to show your hand to him/her.

The other player here being the next player.
This means that a challenge is always against the previous player, in this instance player 2.
In summary. A challenge is always against the previous player, in this case player 2. However as you are already using house rules by allowing WD4 on a WD4, you can also  make it a house rule that player 1 is challenged in this case.


text:
What are the rules of 10x10 Draughts? How many pieces are on each side?
A Checkers board has 64 (8x8) squares and 12 pieces on each side.
A 10x10 Draughts board has 100 (10x10) squares.
How many pieces are used on the 100 square board?

Each player starts with 20 pieces.
From Wikipedia:

The gameboard comprises 10×10 squares in alternating dark and light colours, of which only the 50 dark squares are used. Each player has 20 pieces, light for one player and dark for the other, at opposite sides of the board.

You use the first 4 rows (with 5 squares per row being used).


text:
Rummikub clear two Jokers rule
On the board:

Black 1
Black 2
Joker (Black 3)
Black 4
Joker (Black 5)

On my rack:

Black 3
Black 5
Yellow 2

The play I want to make:
Swap out my Black 3 and Black 5 for the two Jokers & use them with my Yellow 2 as a run or set.
Is this legal?
Or since I am clearing two jokers, am I required to use two tiles (i.e. one for each joker)?
Sorry for the confusion (I am new at this)...
What my opponents are saying is that I can't use just one tile from my rack with the two jokers I cleared ... I must use two tiles from my rack (one for each joker).

Welcome to the site! Can you please clarify what you're asking - is it that you want to know if this sequence is legal? (looks legal to me; do you have a reason to think it's not?)

My opponents say that because I am buying two jokers I should be required to use two tiles (i.e. one for each joker)

Ok, I've edited this information verbatim into your question so it's actually a question. However it sounds like you are using one tile for each joker (Black 3 for one, Black 5 for the other), so when your opponents say this is illegal because you should use "one for each joker", what are they referring to? Note that you can and should edit your own question - people should be able to understand it without also reading this comments section.

It may or may not be legal, depending on which rules you're using. Some rulesets require you to match a joker retrieved from the board with two tiles from your hand for the new meld -- prohibiting you from using both jokers from the board together with only one tile from your hand.
See the discussion of "Variations" under https://www.pagat.com/rummy/rummikub.html

A lot of confusion has been caused by the rule from the "Official Rummikub® Book" that says that when a melded joker is replaced it must immediately be used in a "new" meld. What restriction, if any, does this place on the way the retrieved joker has to be used? The rules supplied with various editions of Rummikub® sets have interpreted this rule in different ways.

A still stricter interpretation, which seems to be preferred by many players, is that the joker must be reused in a new meld formed by combining it with two tiles from your hand. I have seen two sets of rules which support this view. The J W Spear & Sons rules (1988) say: "A joker that has been picked up in this manner must be used in that player's same turn, as part of a new set, along with tiles from his rack." The Pressman Toy Corp rules (1987, 1998) say even more explicitly: "A joker that has been replaced must be used in the player's same turn with 2 or more tiles from his rack to make a new set." But even this is ambiguous: it is not clear whether the new set can also contain tiles from the table. Some players allow this. For example: on the table is a set of four 4's and a run of blue 8-7-joker; in your hand you have two blue sixes and a blue three; you may substitute one blue 6 for the joker and make a new blue run of 6-joker-4-3, stealing the blue 4 from the set of 4's. The new run uses two tiles from your hand, along with the joker and one other tile from the table.

Thank you for your input ... we have the Pressman edition of the game ... this scenario has only come up once ... we may take a vote to see if we want this to be acceptable or not prior to playing in the future ...

I would say that it is legal since according to The Original Rummikub® rules a player must:

Play the joker on his/her current turn,
Make a new set, and
Must use at least one tile from his/her rack on that turn (just as on any other turn).

The Joker:
...
When a player retrieves a joker, the joker will once again have any value or color. However, a player who retrieves a joker must play the joker on his/her current turn to make a new set, and must also use at least one tile from his/her rack on that turn (just as on any other turn).
...


text:
Can I claim a route longer than the number of trains I have left?
On the last move, after only 2 train pieces remains, is it possible to claim a 3-carriage route, if you have the 3 required color cards but only 2 plastic trains left to place on the board?

No, you cannot claim a route longer than the number of plastic trains you have left.
Ticket to Ride Rules

Claim a Route
  The player may claim a route on the board by playing a set of Train Car cards
  that match the color and length of the route and
  then placing one of his colored trains on each space of this route...
Claiming Routes
  ... When a route is claimed, the player places one of his plastic trains in each of the spaces of the route...

And explicitly from the publisher: "No you absolutely can't play more cards/lay more tracks than you have trains left!" --Eric Hautemont, DoW, 2004. https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/19644/train-car-pieces-end-game

It would ruin the resource management part of the game, since you could calm a 4 or 5 route with 2 trains.

@Styxsksu not ruin.... it would become part of people's strategies... I'd leave a 6 route empty, and then make sure my second to last move leaves me only with one train, to maximise the "free trains" I get from this. It's.... a different meta I guess. (not an enjoyable one imho)

I can agree with that but it I have also been in the situation where I couldn't complete all of my tickets because the easy route between 2 cities was taken by someone else, so didn't have enough trains to do the other route


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Uno discard and draw pile empty?
So my friend had an Uno dilemma over the weekend...
They ran out of discards and draw pile somehow.  Then what?
I'm guessing this is impossible "mathematically" or they were missing cards, but is there a solution?

They must have been missing a lot of cards since the Uno deck is huge...

Thanks for nerd-sniping me. Now I will spend the next couple hours contemplating whether or not it's mathematically possible for this to happen. (trivial solution: play with so many players that the draw pile is already almost empty when the game begins. But the rules say 10 players is the maximum)

OK, I posted a question asking if this is actually possible. I hope someone answers it in the next couple hours, or I won't be able to sleep tonight.

There's always a card on the discard pile. Even when you reshuffle, you have to leave the top card of the former DISCARD pile as the start of the new DISCARD pile. (That is: you always have a card there showing what needs to be matched.)
Even if all the other cards are in players' hands, that card is still there. At this point, players can pass, but they draw nothing for doing so. Eventually someone will play.
If no one wants to play for whatever reason, then call it a draw: there's no point to playing when no one playing wants to play.

Logically this is not possible. If no card can be played on top of the current card even after drawing the whole deck into hands, then logically that card could not have been played in the first place.
Uno reuses the Discard Pile as the Draw pile

At any time during the game, if the Draw Pile becomes depleted and no one has yet won the round, take the Discard Pile, shuffle it, and turn it over to regenerate a new Draw Pile.

Even if somehow you ended up in a situation where the top card of the Discard pile had no matches either of colour or face value left (or wilds) in the draw pile, then after the whole pile was drawn the discard pile becomes the new Draw Pile. At this point all the matching colour cards and values that were used before become available.
The only way for this to happen would be an incomplete deck that had no wilds and included a card that was the only card of its colour and number and was the first card drawn. At which point, your Uno set needs replacing not house ruling.

Wild cards make this not true.  If a wild card is played on top of a red card and "Blue" is called, then the red card it was played on isn't a valid response to it.  An incomplete deck with one wild and a whole color missing could be jammed by calling the missing color (but there's an obvious houserule to prevent that).

I think it is theoretically possible actually, but of course extremely unlikely. Let's say the discard pile only holds the red 4, the draw pile is empty. Player A has all wild cards, red cards, and all 4s, and player B has the rest. Then on player B's turn he's not able to play anything and also not able to draw a card

Yes, the argument in this answer only applies to the situation where all players are unable to play, not the situation where one player is unable to play.  That makes it not quite an answer to the question, or at least, only an answer when combined with Scott's "players can pass" answer.

I don't think the rules contemplate this.
If you have to draw cards until you can play, and there are no more cards to draw, I would say your turn is over, next player goes.
It's not like this is going to go in a loop, at least one player CAN play a card.

This approach just makes good sense, even if it isn't a part of the rules.

If you have to draw cards until you can play - I suspect that is the problem in this game. Some people play where you have to keep drawing card after card until you can play, but that is actually a made up rule.  The official rules say you only draw one card and your turn is over when you don't have a match in your hand.


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What happens if you run out of cards in Streaking Kittens
I know this question has already been asked, but this situation is different because we use the Streaking Kitten expansion of Exploding Kittens.

The streaking kitten expansion introduces the streaking kitten card, it allows a player to keep one (and only one) kitten in her hand:

Streaking Kitten 1 Card
While this card is in your hand, you can also secretly hold 1
  Exploding Kitten without exploding.
But...
If the Streaking Kitten leaves your hand for any reason, the Exploding
  Kitten in your hand will explode.
If another player steals or receives an Exploding Kitten from your
  hand, they explode. They must defuse it or lose the game.
If you take any action causing you to play an Exploding Kitten from
  your hand into the Discard Pile, you explode. You must defuse it or
  lose the game.
IMPORTANT - Streaking Kittens and Exploding Kittens can not be used
  with the 5 Card Special Combo. This means you can't use either of them
  in your collection of 5 cards, nor can you remove either of them from
  the Discard Pile.
Why? Because it breaks the game. Don't break the game...the game loves
  you.

If for example, there are 4 players. Using streaking kittens expansion, the deck has 4 kittens. The moment you are running out of cards, 4 kittens must have been played of which at most one is streaking at one of the players. The other 3 kittens must have been exploded eliminating 3 players. So there is only one player left who is the winner.
This can only occur if something went wrong:

You put 3 kittens in the deck. This expansion adds one kitten for each player.
A defused kitten is discarded. Defused kittens are put back in the draw pile.
The player with the streaking kitten card collected more than a single kitten. A streaking kitten card only let you keep one kitten.
The streaking kitten card was stolen, enabling an other player to collect a kitten, but the original kitten "forgot" to explode. If you lose the streaking kitten card while holding a kitten, it explodes.


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What is the use of the return label in Pokémon TCG?
In the image below, the trainer card "Return Label" states that you can put a card from your opponent's discard pile on the bottom of their deck.
What is the use of this card?
You wouldn't want your opponent to have a card from their discard pile back into their deck. Is there a strategy on how to use this card?
If so, please tell me how.

The main reason such a card would be added to your deck is to counter any opponent's abilities that rely on having certain cards in their discard pile. For example, Darkrai-GX has the ability "Restoration:
Once during your turn (before your attack), if this Pokémon is in your discard pile, you may put it onto your Bench. Then, attach a [D] Energy card from your discard pile to this Pokémon.". By using Return Label, you prevent your opponent from bringing their Darkrai back.
It's definitely a niche card, and you have to assume that your opponent has such an ability, but if that's what the current meta is leaning towards then this is a possible counter.

As ConMan mentioned, the value of the card is to prevent effects that happen in the Discard. Not only is Darkrai GX an excellent example of one such card, but if your opponent has various Trainer cards, attacks, or Abilities that can return cards from the Discard to their hand or field, then that's all the more reason to use it. Why? Because it's better for a card they want to be in their deck than in their hand.
The final reason is to plump the opponent's deck. Under normal circumstances, the opponent having 25 cards in deck or 26 cards with a specific card at the bottom of the deck won't change the odds of the 25 random cards. However, if an effect causes the opponent's deck to shuffle, you may have just weighed it down with one card that (by this point in the game) could be a dead card if they draw it, decreasing (ever so slightly) the odds of them getting the cards they need.
To be honest, it's not that powerful of a card. While it certainly has its uses, the opportunities to make quality use of it are so limited that you're looking at it coming into play maybe once in a blue moon. You're better off including cards that directly benefit your deck's winning image or to select a card that acts as a response to the decks that counter your deck. It should generally only see play if you have extra spots in your deck and you have nothing better to use OR if you know the META of the event you're going to will give you plenty of opportunity to make use of it effectively.
Happy playing!


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Running out of cards in Exploding Kitten
I run out of cards as others were asking for it using the combo multiple times on me - does this mean I lost? or is drawing multiple action or combo cards allowed in drawing?

Do you mean you're running out of cards to draw, or that you run out of cards in your hand? The former is impossible (see the linked duplicate), the latter is quite possible but has no consequences for you.

It's impossible to run out of cards. The last card in the deck is guaranteed to be an Exploding Kitten. You must either handle it using a Defuse (which would create a deck consisting of just an Exploding Kitten) or lose (which would cause the only other remaining player to win).
If you find yourself playing another turn immediately, you must contend with the Exploding Kitten a second time (unless you Attack or Skip).


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Pick up the not frozen discard pile having a Canasta meld
My wife and I have gotten into a bit of an argument.
If the discard deck is not frozen, and I have already met the minimum meld whether that be 50, 90 or 120, can I pick up the discard deck with a natural card and a wild card?
We are trying to use Hoyle to play by.

Which Hoyle? Hoyle to game rules is like Webster to a dictionary - tells you nothing without also knowing the publisher name.

Yes you can; this is one of the main differences between the discard pile being frozen or not.
Source:

When the discard pile is not frozen against their side, a player may take it: a) with a natural pair matching the top card as above; or b) by melding the top card with one matching natural card and one wild card from his hand; or c) by adding the top card to a meld they already have on the table.

Source 2:

But first let us consider the case where the discard pile is not frozen against you. In that case, if the top card of the pile is a natural card (from four up to ace), you can take the pile if either:

you play two cards from your hand that make a valid meld with the top discard: these could be either two natural cards of the same rank as the top discard, or one such natural card and one wild card,

or

the top discard matches the rank of one of your partnerships existing melds, and you add it to that meld.

If the pile is frozen; then you must have 2 naturals in hand.


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In bridge, can you tell your partner that your two bid is a weak two?
In bridge, can you tell your partner that your two bid is a weak two or a strong two as you make the bid?

Are you playing Rubber Bridge or Tournament (ie Duplicate) Bridge?

No - presuming you mean during the hand after the call has been made.
OP makes no mention as to whether this is Rubber or Duplicate Bridge. However, there is great conformity between the two sets of Laws, so I will briefly outline the structure as defined in the Rubber Bridge Laws, and allow the Director of any relevant Duplicate Game to cover any extensions pertaining to that variety of the game.
The Proprieties listed in the Laws of Rubber Bridge () state:

2. Communication Between Partners
Communication between partners during the auction and play should be effected only by means of the calls and plays themselves, not through the manner in which they are made nor through extraneous remarks and gestures, nor through questions asked of the opponents and
  explanations given to them.
...
When a player has available to him improper information from his partner’s remark, question, explanation, gesture, mannerism, special emphasis, inflection, haste or hesitation, he should carefully avoid taking any advantage that might accrue to his side.

No discussion of partnership agreements or holdings is allowed during the hand. Any such would be Unauthorized Information to either partner receiving said information, penalized as in Law 16:

Law 16 – Unauthorized Information
A player may be subject to penalty if information is conveyed from his partner other than by a legal call or play.

A. Regarding information obtained from partner:
If a player conveys information to his partner by means of a remark, question, unmistakable hesitation or unwonted speed, special emphasis, tone, gesture, movement, mannerism or any other action that suggests a call, lead or plan of play, is unauthorized. When the offending side has profited by use of this unauthorized information, it should, in conformance with Proprieties 1, redress any damage done to the non-offending side.

...
A player on the offending side must not base any subsequent calls or plays on such unauthorized information. If it is determined that this has been violated and the non-offending side has been damaged, the result should be adjusted to redress any damage done to the non-offending side.

As regards Alerts and Announcements, the ACBL Alert Procedure states:

An announcement is one word or a short phrase which tells the opponents directly the meaning of partner's call. When bidding boxes are used, the "Alert" strip is tapped also. Announcements are required in the following instances: ...

Note:

That it is always the partner of the player making the call that performs the Announcement.
That only the specified calls that are to be Announced, and Weak Two Bids are NOT in this list (ACBL Alert Chart).

The given answer is correct to "can you tell partner which kind of 2 bid this is".  But it looks like you're asking "how can I tell partner that this 2S bid is weak, and that 2S bid is strong?"  You can't do that, at all, never mind telling partner which is which.  There is a requirement to have a system, before the game starts, that is played through the session (and frequently, for the next 40 years).
In other words, you decide before the game what kind of 2 bids you are playing, and you don't change that during the session.  You can have different "systems" at different times - for instance, playing Precision 1st and 2nd, and 2/1 if partner is a passed hand, or having 1NT be 11-13 NV, 14-16 Vulnerable; but again this must be decided in advance and not changed through the session, and definitely not after seeing your cards.  A partnership system can take up hundreds of pages of agreements, or can be as simple as "Seattle 2/1, upside down carding, 1430?" (which for a pair of Seattleites can imply tens of pages of agreements!)
That's for duplicate, of course.
Rubber bridge, because it is usually cut-for-partners, tends to have a system set for the table (in many rubber bridge clubs, the club stipulates the system everyone has to play), with minimal exceptions for things like carding order.  This allows everyone to know what their partner means with their bid, even if they have never played with this partner before.  Again, it's one system, and each (opening, at least) bid will have a single defined meaning in a particular seat and vulnerability.

I think your answer is accurate, but it's not answering the question as asked here - they're specifically referring to people saying "weak" after "2 spades", verbally, which is an unfortunately common occurrence.

Joe, the question can be read two ways; can you remind your partner what you're playing when you make the call (no); or can you bid a weak 2 spades on one hand and a strong 2 spades on another hand, and let partner know which it is each time (also no).  If you don't believe that happens, it was a common argument against the STOP card procedure: they claimed people were playing "STOP-2S is weak, 2S is strong".  And some were - because they didn't know any better.
I read it the second way.

And, having re-read my answer, I didn't actually mention that.  Changed the intro.

Ok, with that revision I think your answer is appropriate.  I definitely agree that the stop card signal was a major problem!

Having said that, the stop card in itself was not a major problem,  The fact that nobody did it, and out of those nobodies, nobody did it 100% consistently, and out of those nobodies, none of their opponents followed the rules afterward.  they still don't, unfortunately, and the "don't have to think" defence to preempts works really really well - that was the problem.  As was the very very rare active misuse, sure, but the lack of use and lack of respect was and is massively more.


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Playing a Wild Draw Color Card on top of another Wild Draw Color Card to get out of drawing cards in UNO FLIP
If a player lays down a Wild Draw Color Card, can the next player lay down their own Wild Draw Color Card to get out of drawing cards.
I argued that this should be allowed since it's like in UNO playing a Draw Two Card and the next player then plays another Draw Two Card.

What do you mean by "picking"? Do you mean drawing?

It's the same kind of question, but a different card game (UNO vs UNO FLIP).

No, it's not valid to do so since according to the Mattel's UNO FLIP! rules the next player:

Wild Draw Color Card (DARK SIDE)
     ... must draw until they get a color of your choosing (no matter how many cards they have to draw to do so) and lose their turn.
Wild Draw 2 Card (LIGHT SIDE)
    ... must draw two cards from the DRAW pile and lose their turn.

But for the player after the next player (who had to pick up the cards) it's a valid play.
Note: Stacking or Progressive UNO, i.e. playing a Draw +1/+5 Card on top of another Draw +1/+5 Card without first drawing card is not allowed, but it's a common house rule used by many.

Draw One / Five Card
  the next player must draw one / five card and miss their turn


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What is scored for bidding and making 3 Clubs Doubled?

Bidder bids 3 Clubs.
Opponent doubles.

No other bids.
Bidder makes 3 Clubs.
What is the Score the Bidder gets?

Welcome to Board and Card games Q&A.
I asume you target the game of bridge?

The score varies by game variant:
Playing Rubber Bridge:

Above the line - Insult: 50
Below the line - Trick Score of: 120 as 3 * 40

The trick score for the deal equals or exceeds 100, so a game has been bid and made. If this game is the second by the same partnership of the rubber, an additional Rubber Bonus of either 500 or 700 would be scored above the line.
Presumably the disagreement inciting the question is to do with how to score the points earned as doubled - i.e. the trick score above points as 120 - 60. The Rules of Rubber Bridge state clearly:

Law 72 - Points Earned
The result of each deal played is recorded in points,
  which fall into two classes:
A. Trick Points: Only declarer’s side can earn trick
  points and only by fulfilling the contract. Only the
  value of tricks named in the contract may be scored
  as trick points (see Law 81). ....
Law 81 - Scoring Table
TRICK SCORE
Scored below the line by declarer’s side, if contract
  is fulfilled:
For each Trick over six, bid and made ... Doubled [in Clubs]: 40
....
PREMIUM SCORE
Scored above the line by declarer’s side
For winning the rubber, if opponents have won no game 700
For winning the rubber, if opponents have won one game 500
...
For making any doubled contract: 50
...

Further down it makes clear that the slam bonuses are scored only for contracts where 12 tricks (small slam) or 13 tricks (grand slam) have been both bid and made.
There are no further premium points scored as there were no overtricks made.
Playing Duplicate or Chicago
(The latter sometimes also termed Four Deal or Party Bridge scoring.)

Not Vulnerable: 470 as 300 (game bonus) + 120 (trick score as above) + 50 (insult as above)
Vulnerable:  670 as 500 (game bonus) + 120 (trick score as above) + 50 (insult as above)

There is a variant of Chicago scoring that makes use of above- and below-line scoring, but that is of no consequence on a hand where game is bid and made (ie trick score >= 100), as here.

In Duplicate Bridge (contract Bridge) the most commonly played bridge.
3 Clubs
Vulnerable (red zone): 670 (40+40+40+500+50p)
Not Vulnerable (green zone): 470 (40+40+40+300+50p)
World Bridge Federation
The Laws of Duplicate Bridge 2017

LAW 77 – DUPLICATE BRIDGE SCORING TABLE (Page 57)
  ...
  Clubs
40p For making each Doubled odd trick bid...
  ...
  Premiums...
500p For making GAME Vulnerable
300p For making GAME, Not Vulnerable
50p For making any Doubled, but not Redoubled contract

Note:
2 of a major doubled is game, as is 2NT and 3 of a minor.
When you bid such a contract and are doubled, you have been doubled into game, and you receive the full game bonus.
Here's a couple of great scoring charts you can use:
ptaff.ca - Duplicate Bridge Scoring Tables
No Fear Bridge - Duplicate Bridge Scoring


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Multiple stations connection in Ticket to Ride Europe
In Ticket to Ride: Europe
Can I build multiple consecutive stations on my opponent's route?
In other words, can my two stations connect to each other?
An example, to make it more clear.

I have a route to Amsterdam, but from there to London and to Edinburgh my opponent
(2 players only) built a route.
Can I put a station on Amsterdam and one on London to connect to Edinburgh?

Yes, you may use multiple borrowed routes to complete a destination ticket. There is simply no limit in the rules.

Can you add a source to this, please?

You're asking me to prove that there is no limit in the rules. I can't prove that something doesn't exist. I can't give a source because the rules don't say "there is no limit". They simply don't mention a limit. All they say is that a station allows you use to borrow a route to complete tickets.

The official digital version doesn't impose any limit.

Thank you for your time and answer, and for the additional explanation too.

The rules do not state that you cannot use more than one station claimed route to complete a ticket.  Therefore, you may use more than one station claimed route to complete a ticket.
This will require two stations.  Each station can only claim the use of a single route.


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What to do after flipping the discard pile in Uno Flip?
Uno Flip, I'm wondering what to do in this scenario:

Gameplay starts, eventually someone plays a Flip Card.
We flip the discard pile to the Dark Side
The card that is now facing up is an Action Card, what happens?

Example 1:
The card facing up is a Draw Five Card.
Does the next person pick up 5 cards?
Example 2:
The card facing up is a Wild Card.
Who chooses the color?
Example 3:
The card facing up is a Wild Draw Color Card.
Who chooses the color and draw the cards?

Note that this can only occur the very first time that the deck is flipped, since by the second time, the card on the bottom will always be a flip card (since someone had to play it, and when the deck was fipped, it would be on the bottom).

No action should be taken.
After a Flip Card is played, the UNO Flip! rules (© 2018) only state that the Discard Pile is to be flipped. Not that there should be any action taken regarding to the new face up card.

Flip Card – when you play this card, everything flips from the Light Side to the Dark Side. Once the Flip card has been played, flip over the Discard Pile (the card just played will now be on the bottom), then the Draw Pile, then everyone’s hands must flip to the other side.   This new side will remain in play until another Flip card is played, changing it again.
This card may only be played on a matching color or on another Flip card.

The card turned face up (after a flip) will always be another Flip Card. Except for the first "flip" of the game (which will produce the back of the first card turned up at the beginning of play) or if the Discard Pile is being shuffled due to lack of cards in the Draw Pile.
If a "flip" produces a Wild Card, Wild Draw 2 Card or Wild Draw Color Card, then the rules are not clear as to who gets to choose the color.
My interpretation is that the next person (aka the person to the left) gets to choose the color.

Wild Card – ... If a Wild card is turned up at the beginning of play, the person to the left of the dealer chooses the color that continues play.

But another interpretation would be that the person playing the Flip Card gets to choose the color.

Links:
UNO Flip! rules (© 2018)

The UNO Flip! rules (from 2020) now clearly state.
When the deck is flipped:

you do NOT have to take the action, and
the player who played the flip card calls the color.


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What's the chess pieces starting position in Chess?
Me and my dad keep arguing where the Rooks and Bishops go.
What goes in the corners, the rooks or the bishops?

This question shouldn't be that hard to find through a simple search on the internet, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_of_chess

In the future consider looking it up beforehand? If you can't find it then, we will be happy to help! But this question shouldn't be that difficult to find online. Out of curiosity, was your dad wrong or right?

It can be an interesting house rule to play with where you can alter the order of pieces on your back row during game setup.  In Janggi this is explicitly allowed in the rules that knights and elephants may be transposed.  This would, as alluded to elsewhere, otherwise just be a house rule and against the official rules for western chess.

This is a fine question (because it can form an on-site point of reference), but it would have been much, much better if you had looked into this and done more research first. Then you could have answered it yourself.

White square to the corner right, Queen on her colour, rooks in the corners, bishops beside the royalty.
You can remember this by recalling that bishops are equivalent to barons in the peerage, so "next to royalty" in importance, and superior to mere knights.

As the game migrated through Persia (or Iran if you prefer) the pieces now known as bishops were known as viziers - cabinet ministers if you will. Rooks were originally elephants and only became castles when the game arrived in Europe.

You start with arranging the chess board right first. Coz that's very easy to confuse considering chess board is a square.
While the arrangement shared above is correct. One thing to note is place chess board in such a way that light square is always on the right hand bottom corner of each player.
Learn more about chess setup here.


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What happens to a losing player's cards in Exploding Kittens?
When a player draws an Exploding Kitten and cannot defuse they are out. Do their cards go back into the draw pile or discard pile?
So if you have a Streaking Kitten and an Exploding Kitten and you pick up a second Exploding Kitten, then you end up discarding 2 Exploding Kittens. So this means there are 2 less Exploding Kittens than number of people remaining.
So there is no clear winner?

Possible duplicate of What happens to exploded kittens?

I thought so too, but this question is about the Exploding Kittens with Streaking Kittens expansion.

They go back into the Discard Pile.

EXPLODING KITTEN
  ... Unless you have a Defuse Card, you're dead.
Discard all of your cards, including the Exploding Kitten.

Since there are one more Exploding Kitten Card to start with than normal, there still can be a winner.

STREAKING KITTENS
  ... 6. Insert enough Exploding Kittens back into the deck so that the total number of Exploding Kittens is equal to the number of players - this is 1 more Exploding Kitten than normal because the Streaking Kitten Card allows a player to hold an Exploding Kitten in their hand without exploding!

Exploding Kittens Rules
Exploding Kittens with Streaking Kitten Rules

According to the rules, you discard the cards, so they go in the discard pile.

You must show this card immediately. Unless you have a Defuse card,
  you’re dead. Discard all of your cards, including the Exploding Kitten.

So if you have a streaking kitten and an exploding kitten, and you pick up a second exploding kitten, you end up discarding 2 exploding kittens. So this means there are 2 less kittens than the never of people remaining. So there is no clear winner. ?

When playing with Streaking Kittens, you START with a number of exploding kittens EQUAL to the number of players, which is one more than usual. If someone with the streaking kitten draws a second exploding kitten and cannot defuse it, both exploding kittens AND the Streaking kitten enter the discard pile. At that point, the number of exploding kittens left in the draw pile should be one fewer than the number of players remaining.

If you change the question after an answer is given, the answer can become invalid or incomplete.

It seems like there could be a problem with the steaking kitten if someone uses the five card combo to take the steaking kitten out of the discard pile. If that player then explodes the deck could have n - k > 1, where n is number of players in play and k is number of kittens in draw pile,


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A knight's movement
In chess, the knight moves in an 'L' shape.  I have not found any additional name for this.  Does this movement have a name other than 'L' shaped?

Although this is on topic here; you might have better luck with a question like this over at chess.stackexchange.com.

The move a Knight makes is typically called either a "Knight's move", or "L-Shaped".
There aren't really any more common names than those, as the Knight and it's move are both relatively unique, and predate western chess; being one of two pieces that were directly imported from Chaturanga (the other is the Rook) in their current form.
You will occasionally find referrences to the move as a "Knight's Leap" or "Knight's Jump", but those usages are uncommon.

It's also called a knight's move in go (which, of course doesn't even have knights).

We call it "dhai chaal" (in hindi) or 2.5 steps (in english) in India.


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Phase 10 - After laying down a phase, do you still draw a card on your turn?
Me and my friends are playing Phase 10 and we all grew up playing it two different ways and we don’t know what the correct way is.
After you put down your phase and are trying to get rid of your cards:

Do you just discard without drawing

or

Do you have to draw a card and try to put it onto yours and other people’s phases that is on the table?

You still must draw like normal; the only way to reduce your hand size is to hit on existing phases.
From the rules about taking your turn:

On your turn, draw one card, either the top card from the draw pile or the top
card from the discard pile, and add it to your hand. End your turn by discarding any
one of your cards onto the top of the discard pile.

There is no rule listed under going out or making a phase that contradicts or changes this, so it still applies.


text:
Catan Universe with 2 human and 1 computer player
I have played a lot of Catan on the original board game but there is Catan Classic or Catan Universe in the App Store.
Can I play Catan online with a friend but also against the computer so we have minimum 3 player which makes it more challenging than a 2 player version?

I’m voting to close this question because we can't provide you with assistance on how to play a game on an online site and what that site will allow you to play with for computer and human opponents. You will need to visit the site in question itself to find that answer.

Instead of closing the question, why not to wait for someone that played at that site? should be an easy question.

Please reopen. Closing this because it require knowledge of the site is like closing a question because it requires knowledge of the rules. Questions about the electronic versions of board games are on topic.

@ikegami Are we expected to be able to provide support for every gaming site and game that is based on a board game?

@ikegami This is looking for not only a recommendation but a recommendation for a computer version of a game, which takes this FAR out of scope for BGSE. They are looking for a platform that allows both human and computer players - this is not our scope.

@Andrew, No, they are asking if two specific games are able to do something. I have no idea why you think that's asking for a recommendation. The fact that they are really asking two questions is a problem, though.

@Joe W, The question is whether we allow questions about those, and the answer at this time is yes. Whether you answer ("provide support") or not is up to you.

Yes, you can play with both players and AIs in Catan Universe, at least on the PC version.

Choose the game to play (The Game, Seafarers, Cities & Knights, etc) by click the appropriate button at the bottom of the screen.
Choose "Custom Game"
To add a player,

Click "+" next to "Add player".
Choose "Friendlist".
Enter the name of a friend.

To add an AI,

Click "+" next to "Add player".
Choose "Computer (AI)".
Select an AI name.

Repeat the last two steps as desired.

I can't answer for Catan Classic.

Morgan here. Thank you for that detailed answer “ikegami”, that answers my question completely!

@Morgan, Thanks, but the appropriate course of action is to click the checkmark next to the answer :)


text:
Can you win a two player Uno game by playing a skip card then your final card?
My boyfriend and I are playing a game of two player Uno.
It’s my turn, and I have a red Skip card and a red 9. The color of the pile is currently red. If I place down my Skip card, skipping his turn, then say Uno and put down my red 9, do I win?
I’ve heard of this being called “Uno out”, but I need to clarify since he doesn’t believe me.

Yes, this is a good way to win. Since you played a skip card in a two player game it is your turn again letting you play your final card and win the game. It should be noted that he would still have time to say uno if he could say it before you did or you played your final card.


text:
Will any route (built without a destination ticket) be counted as points?
Will any routes, built without a destination ticket, be counted as points?
In other words, can you get any points if your built any segments without the appropriate destination ticket?
Can you build them anywhere?

You score points for EVERY route you claim, based on its length (length 1 is 1 point; length 2 is 2, 3 is 4, 4 is 7, etc), at the time that you claim it. Destination cards are awarded (or penalized) at the end of the game.

Yes, in a few ways:

Each segment gets a score immediately when you build it, the longer the segment, the greater the points. This is completely independent of routes.
Longest route is another award during the end game, and this doesn't need to follow any of your destination routes (it usually includes at least part of some destination routes but is longer)

Destinations are probably the best way to earn points, since you get the points for each segment either way, and a player is not likely to win if they don't finish any destination routes, since they are a penalty if left unfinished, but they are far from the only way to score in Ticket to Ride.

Yes, you can claim any route (as long as it's available) and you will score the appropriate number of points.
Ticket to Ride Rules

OBJECT OF THE GAME
  ...Points can be scored by:
    • Claiming a Route between two adjacent cities on the map;
    • Successfully completing a Continuous Path of routes between two cities listed on your Destination Ticket(s);
    • Completing the Longest Continuous Path of routes.
Points are lost if you do not successfully complete the route given on the Destination Ticket(s) you kept.

CLAIMING ROUTES
  ...A player may claim any open route on the board. He is never required to connect to any of his previously played routes.

CLAIM A ROUTE
  ...He then records his score by moving his Scoring Marker the appropriate number of spaces (see Route Scoring Table) along the Scoring Track on the board.


text:
Why did this route work? Using another player's station, in Ticket to Ride Online?
We had this situation recently in the online Ticket to Ride. Why did Yellow's route from London to Berlin work? Is Yellow really allowed to use Purple's station on Essen?

There appears to be a yellow station at München, where the green and purple wagons join up, the purple line continuing from there to Berlin. Is that normal? Could it affect the road leading to Berlin?

It's hard to tell with the big green destination marker, but it looks like there is a yellow train station in Berlin, which would allow Yellow to use the track from Essen to complete the ticket.

Good eye! I think you're right!

Yup, just zoomed in loads, and you're right, if you compare it to the green marker at the other end of the route, it should be clear

The online game should probably in this case highlight the train station involved just like the trains: drawn above the marker. I suggest submitting a ticket (no pun intended) to the developer suggesting that.

Also note that the purple station on Essen is not highlighted, indicating it is not being used as one might think when first looking at the image (I know I did). This also points to a yellow station on Berlin being used to claim purple's track.

As far as I can tell that should not have worked at all. It seems like the T2R online simulation has a route calculation bug. I suggest reporting this to them.
Players can only use their own train stations. From Ticket to Ride Europe's rules (page 6):

A Train Station allows its owner to use one, and only one, of the routes belonging to another player, into (or out of) that city to help him connect the cities on his Destination Tickets.

There is no allowance for players other than the owner to make use of a train station, or for the owner to share it, or anything like that. The owner gets the route and that's that.


text:
How to use your own Depots in Ticket to Ride Europe 1912 Expansion?
I'd like a clarification on how one uses Depots in Ticket to Ride.
Depots were introduced in the Europe 1912 Expansion pack. Here are the two rules that I'm wondering about. (Text, punctuation and formatting is from the printed English rules, numbering is mine for clarity is this question)

Each Time a player uses his turn to Claim a Route into a city with a player's Depot in it, he may pick all the Train cards from that player's Warehouse, by discarding one of his own Depots from his Warehouse back into the game box.
Players may pick cards from their own Warehouse, when claiming a Route into a city containing their own Depot. And players may pick cards from 2 Warehouses in a single turn, when claiming a Route that connects 2 cities each with its own Depot; to do so, they must discard 2 of their own Depots however.

Rule 1 is pretty clear but Rule 2 has me puzzled, why is the first part even there? As I read it carefully, it seems to me that the distinction in Rule 2 is that it is your own Depot and they do not mention discarding a Depot from your Warehouse "back into the game box."
Is that a correct interpretation? For example, if 2 players are playing, say blue and yellow. If the Yellow player empties a Blue Depot it is clear they must discard one of their Depots, but if they empty a Yellow Depot, can they avoid discarding a Depot?


text:
How to score for claiming routes in Ticket to Ride: Europe
Apologies if this is answered somewhere. I haven’t found it.
I have a couple of questions as a new player to Ticket to Ride Europe.

How many points do you score if the route you claim does not match the scoring table e.g. 5, 7, 9+ trains to create a route across multiple stations? I read somewhere that a 5 train route = 10pts but elsewhere that this has been removed on the Europe edition. If removed then I don’t understand if it means you can’t claim a 5 train route e.g. 4 + 1 or you just have to take the points for 4 trains even though putting down 5. And earlier I put down 12 trains in one go but had no idea how to score it. The rules don’t mention anything about scoring routes that don’t match the table. And you must be able to go across multiple stations in one go as there are no 8 train routes that don’t go across a station in between.
I assume this isn’t possible and needs to be done in 2 turns, but wanted to check... if I have a route already claimed, am I able to add another route at the beginning of it and a route at the end of it in one turn since it creates one continuous route? If so, how is it scored?

Thanks

It seems you have some misunderstandings regarding how to play Ticket To Ride: Europe. You cannot ever claim more than one route in your turn.
You can do one, and only one, of these actions in your turn From the Rulebook, page 3:

On his turn, a player must perform one
  (and only one) of the following four actions:

Draw Train Car Cards: The player may draw two Train cards (or just
  one, if the card he selects is a face-up Locomotive. See Locomotives
  for special rules);
Claim a Route: The player claims a route on the
  board by playing a set of Train cards from his hand that match the
  color and quantity of the spaces that make up the route. He places
  one of his colored trains on each space, and scores the number of
  points indicated on the Route Scoring Table for that route’s length;
Draw Destination Tickets: The player draws three Destination Tickets
  from the top of the Tickets deck, and must keep at least one of them;
Build a Train Station: – The player may build a Station in any city
  that does not yet have one. To build his first Train Station, the
  player plays one Train card of any color and places one of his Train
  Stations on that city. To build his second station, a player must
  play a set of two cards of the same color, and to build his third
  station a set of three cards of the same color

There is actually a route of 8 spaces, it's the tunnel between Stockholm and Petrograd.
On defining a route, page 4:

A route is a set of continuous colored spaces (in some instances, gray
  spaces) between two adjacent cities on the map. To claim a route, a player
  must play a set of Train cards whose color and quantity match the color
  and number of spaces of the chosen route.

There are no 5 train routes in TTR: Europe, so that's why there's no scoring for that number. So both 1) and 2) on your question aren't possible.
On scoring, page 7:

When a player claims a route, he immediately scores the number of points indicated
  on the Route Scoring Table for the length of the route he just claimed.

You score immediately for the size of the route you claimed, and since you can only claim one route, you can score only within the table.

You seem to be misunderstanding a key part of how the game works, in both Ticket to Ride Europe and regular Ticket to Ride.
On a single turn, you can only put down enough trains to follow a single path between adjacent cities. You cannot go through multiple cities at once.
So a route of length 8 for 21 points is the longest route you can claim. On later turns, you can claim another route, whether it is adjacent to one you have already claimed or not.
From the rules:

A route is a set of continuous colored spaces (in some instances, gray spaces) between two adjacent cities on the map. To claim a route, a player must play a set of Train cards whose color and quantity match the color and number of spaces of the chosen route.
Most routes require a specific set of colored cards to claim them. Locomotives can always act as a stand-in for any given color (See example 1).
Routes that are Gray can be claimed using a set of cards of any one color (See example 2).

Regular Ticket to Ride has some routes that are length 5 and are worth 10 points, but Ticket to Ride Europe does not have any routes of length 5 on the board.


text:
In Uno when playing a Wild Draw 4 card, can I choose a color not in my hand?
If I play a Wild Draw 4 card and the only card I have left in my hand is a red one, can I change the color to green?
Or is it required to have the called color?

It is a decent strategy if you only have one card left to not call that color.

Yes you can do that. In the rules, there is nothing restricting the color called.

Wild – This card represents all four colors, and can be placed on any
card. The player has to state which color it will represent for the
next player. It can be played regardless of whether another card is
available. If turned up at the beginning of play, the first player
chooses what color to continue play.
Wild Draw Four – This acts just
like the wild card except that the next player also has to draw four
cards as well as forfeit his/her turn. With this card, you must have
no other alternative cards to play that matches the color of the card
previously played. If you play this card illegally, you may be
challenged by the other player to show your hand to him/her. If
guilty, you need to draw 4 cards. If not, the challenger needs to draw
6 cards instead. If turned up at the beginning of play, return this
card to the Draw pile, shuffle, and turn up a new one.


text:
Do Ticket to Ride expansions work with the Europe set?
I have and love Ticket to Ride: Europe, and would like to try out some of the new expansion packs (Switzerland, Asia, etc... Don't really care about 1910). I was just wondering if I would have to buy the original USA game first or if the new maps would work with the Europe set. Thanks!

1910 is an expansion of the US game so would not work with Europe. 1912 is the expansion of the Europe map

Either of those big boxes is fine.
Märklin is not perfectly compatible, since the train car deck is a little bit off, and Nordic Countries only has enough trains for three players. That's why those boxes are not quite compatible with the expansion maps.

No, you only need one of the base games (Europe or USA) in order to access the train car cards, scoring markers and the player carriage pieces. It doesn't matter which base game you own. For example, the rules for Heart of Africa tell you:

This game is an expansion and requires that you use the following game
  parts from one of the previous versions of Ticket to Ride:
A reserve of 45 Trains per player and matching Scoring Markers taken from any of the following:

Ticket to Ride / Ticket to Ride Europe

110 Train Car Cards taken from:

Ticket to Ride / Ticket to Ride Europe / USA 1910 expansion

You can also confirm this yourself by looking at the Games of Wonder website descriptions for each map, for example Asia. They all say the same thing:

NOT A STAND-ALONE GAME! Requires an original copy of Ticket to Ride® or Ticket to Ride® Europe to play.

Also don't forget that Ticket To Ride: Alvin & Dexter is an expansion that can work with any of the base TTR games. It expands the game in a different direction; adding a giant dinosaur and an alien who can create havoc for those trying to build to/from a certain location.

Welcome! This expansion sounds very interesting, I'd like to try it out.  However, this answer does not really address the question above. This post would be better as a comment.  Comments (like this) can be left on either questions or answers, however they don't score any reputation.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
What came first? Last Card or Uno?
Which game came first?  According to Wikipedia, Uno was invented in 1971, but I cannot find anything giving a date for Last Card

Crazy Eights was a very old game when I first played it in the early '60's.
Making a special deck to help remember the abilities of each rank (ie selling UNO) is brilliant entrepreneurship and marketing, but not a new game.

Crazy Eights does have variants (like Last One), but the base game doesn't have special abilities based on card rank. Do you have any sources showing the creation of a Crazy Eights variant matching the description of UNO/Last Card?

A contributor, Mark Alexander, on pagat notes that a similar game with a similar name Last One was invented sometime between  1970-1980.

Mark Alexander reports that this variation of Crazy Eights (for 2 to 6 players) has been traced back to Walla Walla prison in Washington State, USA in the 1980's. Another correspondent tells me that she remembers playing it in the state of Maine, USA in the 1970's. [...]

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
How is bridge for beginners taught in Taiwan or Italy today, Precision or another method?
I play duplicate bridge, and have recently begun studying the Precision bidding system on my own.  Precision was invented by C.C. Wei in the 1960's with Truscott's assistance, and was used with great success by the Taiwanese and Italians at the world championship level during the late 1960s and early 1970s, respectively.
I was wondering how beginning bridge is taught these days in those countries, Taiwan and Italy.  Of course, Standard American and Two-Over-One are the main methods taught in the U.S., and, for example, our Bridge Club has yet to offer Precision Bidding lessons.
I imagine that in Taiwan and Italy Precision is taught in beginning bridge lessons, but I am having a difficult time confirming this on the internet.
Thanks for your help!

The canapé-based Blue Club systems (both Roman and Neapolitan) have also always been popular in Italy, so I expect to see that those are taught as well.

Personally, I believe in most places, novices are taught the "natural" way. i.e. when you bid a suit, you have length in that suit.
Which means they are probably first introduced to system similar to the standard american.

Acol, some versions of Neapolitan club, canapé in France are all "natural" systems and all very unlike both Standard American, and each other.

Precision itself is rightly touted as a "natural system". Shenken's Big Club system (another natural system) originated before the invention of Contract Bridge by Vanderbilt in 1925. Many canapé adherents believe that such systems are more natural than non-canapé systems.


text:
What is the special die with pictograms in Monopoly used for?
I think that I have a pretty standard version Monopoly, which looks exactly like I see in the Web

It has two white dice with values 1 to 6 and one red with values 1,2,3 and 3 pictures. I haven't seen any rules that say what to do with this second die.
update Once, I've got to know that this is called at "speed die", I have managed to find a nice picture of it:

(The second picture has red regular dice instead of white like I have, but the special die is clearer.)

It appears you have the Championship Edition (or the Mega Edition or some other recent modified version), which includes a "speed die" (that third die) for speeding up the game, though it's definitely not part of the original game. There are two "bus" faces, and one "Mr. Monopoly" face.
I found these rules on Hasbro's site explaining how it works. The PDF was was reluctant to load for me, so I've quoted them here:

When starting the game, hand out an extra $1,000 to each player
  (two $500s should work). The game moves fast and you'll need
  the extra cash to buy and build.
Do not use the Speed Die until you've landed on or passed over GO for the first time. Once you collect that first $200 salary, you'll use the Speed Die for the rest of the game. This means that some players will start using the die before others.
Once you start using the Speed Die, roll it along with the two
  white dice on your turn. Then do the following depending on
  what you rolled.

1, 2, or 3: Add this number to the roll of the two white dice. You'll zoom around the board.
Bus: This lets you "get off the bus early." Look at the two white dice. You can move the value of one die, the other die, or the sum of both dice. So if you rolled a 1 and a 5, you can move 1 space, 5 spaces, or 6 spaces: it's your choice.
Mr. Monopoly: First, move the sum of the two white dice
  and resolve the space you land on (such as drawing a card,
  buying the property, paying rent, etc.). Then, one of two
  things will happen depending on whether or not there is still
  property in the bank.
YES, there is property in the bank -- Advance to the NEXT
  property that the bank still holds and buy it if you wish. If you
  don't want to buy this property, move to the space anyway
  and put the property up for auction.
NO, there are no more properties in the bank -- Advance to the
  NEXT property on which you will owe another player money.

A few minor details:

Only the white dice are used when determining if you rolled doubles. Do not look at the Speed Die.
If you roll a three-of-a-kind (all of the dice show the same number),
  you can move anywhere you want on the board!
If you get sent to jail during your move (either by landing on the "Go
  to Jail" space or by rolling doubles three times in a row) then your turn
  is over and you do not get to use the Speed Die for that turn.
Use the white dice ONLY when rolling to get out of jail.
Use the sum of all three dice when determining how much to pay on a utility. Note: The Bus and Mr. Monopoly are valued at 0.

Thanks, Wikipedia also has an entry on it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_%28game%29#Speed_Die. I see now.

@ire_and_curses News to me too! I also learned that there is competitive Monopoly, and Hasbro apparently forced them to use the speed die as a marketing thing, because someone was making a documentary!

this was in the documentary, Under The Boardwalk, too :)

"property that the bank still holds" = 'unowned property'

The die is known as the speed die
@Cascabel's answer has the rules from the championship edition for this die.
Mega Edition has different rules (especially surrounding the bus symbol).  The mega edition rules are compatible with a regular monopoly set if you add 16 bus tickets.  To make your own, you need 13 regular ones and 3 that say "all other tickets expire"; the two types of bus tickets should be indistinguishable when face-down.  You could just use playing cards (taking 13 diamonds to be regular bus tickets and 3 spades to be the "all other tickets expire" tickets).  Those rules are included below.
Regardless of which edition you are using, the speed die does make the game shorter, both in making properties get bought faster then in causing players to go bankrupt faster.  It does also somewhat radically change late-game strategy due to the behavior of the Mr. Monopoly symbol once all properties are bought (move to the next property where you owe rent).  This rule allows a player to augment the likelyhood of other players landing on a heavily developed property by buying a contiguous block of the preceding properties and mortgaging them all (thus making the developed one the next place another player would owe rent for a large chunk of the board).  This also increases the value of railroads and utilities as potential "spoilers" in these runs of mortgaged properties.
Mega Edition Rules:

THE DICE & HOW TO MOVE
On your turn, roll all THREE dice: the two white dice plus the new
  SPEED DIE.
• If pips appear on all three dice, simply move the total of all
  three.
• If you roll a Mr. Monopoly, you get a bonus move.  First, move
  according to the white dice, do what you would normally do on that
  space; then move again to the next unowned property, which you may now
  buy.  If you roll a Mr. Monopoly after all of the properties are
  owned, make a normal move according to the white dice, then move ahead
  to the first property on which you need to pay rent. If all other
  players properties are mortgaged, stay where you are.Note: An opponent
  can’t build or trade until your Mr. Monopoly move is completed.
• If you roll the Bus, first make a normal move according to the white
  dice, then decide to either take a BUS TICKET for later use(usually a
  good idea if any tickets are left in the deck) or move again to the
  nearest Chance/Community Chest space in front of your token
DOUBLES & TRIPLES
Refer  only  to  the  white  dice  when  determining  doubles.  If
  doubles entitle you to roll again, you may use a Bus Ticket in place
  of rolling the dice. While in JAIL, roll only the two white dice (if
  you pay beforehand to get out, roll all three dice).  If you roll
  TRIPLE 1’s, 2’s, or 3’s, move ahead to ANY space on the board.  Do not
  roll again.  You do not go to Jail if you’ve rolled doubles twice
  before rolling triples.
BUS TICKETS
On  any  turn,  you  may  choose to use a Bus Ticket (if you have any)
  instead of rolling the dice.  If so,  move  forward  to  any space on
  the same side of the board.    (Corners  are  the final space  on
  each  side,  as  well  as  the  first space  of  the  next side.)
  After using a Bus Ticket, give the Ticket to the Banker,it is out of
  play for the remainder of the game.  (There are 16 tickets in all.
  When they are gone, they’re gone!) Watch out!  When an “All Tickets
  Expire” card is drawn, all other Tickets in the hands of the players
  are lost to the  bank  (they’ve expired).  If  a Bus Ticket or Mr.
  Monopoly  roll causes you to pass GO, collect $200 as usual.  Note:
  All Bus Tickets should be revealed as collected and kept face up.


text:
In Ticket to Ride: Märklin, do Passenger cards allow you to complete Destination tickets?
Based on my understanding of the rules, you can use a Passenger card to complete a route that a passenger is on.  So, if I have a route of red trains and someone places blue in my path I can use the passenger card when picking up tokens to complete my destination.
At the end of the game do I get to count that as a completed Destination ticket (even though there is a break in my trains)? OR
Is the destination ONLY counted when the Passenger travels through and picks up Merchandise tokens?

What is a Passenger ticket? The rules say that Passenger Cards are drawn like train cards, but they don't allow you to complete routes, they are used in the 3. Move Passenger step , "Passenger Cards can be drawn like  any other Train cards. When moving a Passenger, the player can play any number of Passenger Cards and use one route belonging to an opponent for each Passenger Card played."

I have edited the question in an attempt to clarify it, using the standard game terms. @michele, if I have misunderstood the intent of the question, let me know.

Okay, so if I am understanding this correctly destinations need to be completed as in every other version of ttr. However, when my passenger is moving along and picking up tokens she can detour along another players route and pick up her tokens ad long as a passenger card is played for each route. Is that it?  If so, does the passenger ultimately need to get back on the players track and end at the destination or can the passenger end somewhere on an opponent's route?

The passenger can end wherever.  You don't have to end them on your route.  One weird quirk; you can send the passenger fram city A to B and back again, if they use one player's route one way, and another player's route the other way, using passenger cards.

It is important to note that passenger cards are not used to claim routes. Although they are drawn like train cards, they are not played when claiming a route. They are played only when using the Move Passengers action to collect Merchandise tokens from cities. Each passenger card played allows you to move your passenger through one route belonging to another player.
Excerpts from the rulebook:

[When Moving a Passenger] The player may move any one of his Passengers that is already on the board. The Passenger must move from the city he currently occupies along any or all of the player's continuous routes, picking up one Merchandise Token from each city
  he moves. The player can only use the same route once per turn, i.e., a Passenger may
  not backtrack over the same route. The player does not pick up a Merchandise Token in the city in which the Passenger starts. At the end of the turn the Passenger that moves is removed from the game.

And the role of the passenger cards:

When moving a Passenger, the player can play any number of Passenger Cards and use one route belonging to an opponent for each Passenger Card played.

(p. 3-4 of the rulebook)
Passenger cards do not give you any ability to use opponents' routes for any other purpose, including completing tickets at the end of the game.

No, using Passenger cards to move a Passenger between two cities on an opponents route does not allow you to add points for completed Destination Tickets at the end of the game.
In the rule book under Calculating Scores (page 6) and Drawing Destination Ticket Cards:

Players should then reveal all their Destination Tickets and add (or subtract) the value of their Destination Tickets still in hand, based on whether they successfully connected those cities together or not.
Each Destination Ticket includes the name of two cities on the map and a Point Value. If a player successfully completes a series of routes that connect the two cities, he will add the amount of points indicated on the Destination Ticket to his point total at the end of the game. If he does not successfully connect the two cities, he deducts the amount of points indicated.

You connect cities by claiming routes (Page 5)

A route is a set of continuous colored spaces (in some instances, gray spaces) between two adjacent cities on the map. To claim a route, a player must play a set of Train Cards whose color and quantity match the color and number of spaces of the chosen route.

Passenger cards (10 total) are not used to claim routes, they are used during a Game Turn which a player chooses to 4. Move Passengers (page 3). The Passenger card allows you to move a Passenger through an opponents route.

Passenger Cards can be drawn like any other Train cards. When moving a Passenger, the player can play any number of Passenger Cards and use one route belonging to an opponent for each Passenger Card played.