Psellos
Life So Short, the Craft So Long to Learn

The Schnapsen Log

January 29, 2013

Danger at Every Turn

Martin Tompa

You have finally warmed up by the roaring fire in the Café Abeles. The smell of wood smoke fills your nose, making you realize how much you enjoy the comforts you have on this cold winter day. Your coffee has cooled enough to sip after each small bite of the café’s justly famous Haselnusstorte. Having appreciated these creature comforts, you turn your attention back to the problem at hand.

Unseen cards:
TQ
TQ
♣ —
KJ

Your cards:
AJ
AJ
♣ A

Trump: K
Stock: 1 face-down card
Game points: Peter 5, You 6
Trick points: Peter 54, You 33
On lead: You

You have each declared a marriage, yours in clubs and Peter’s in diamonds. You now exchange your J for the K showing on the table. That was the easy part. Now what? Once you have a good plan, you are welcome to read my analysis.

© 2013 Martin Tompa. All rights reserved.


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About the Author

Martin Tompa

Martin Tompa (tompa@psellos.com)

I am a Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where I teach discrete mathematics, probability and statistics, design and analysis of algorithms, and other related courses. I have always loved playing games. Games are great tools for learning to think logically and are a wonderful component of happy family or social life.

Read about Winning Schnapsen, the very first and definitive book on the winning strategy for this fascinating game.

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September
Sidestep a Few Landmines, Sep 2
June
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April
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A New Scheme for Remembering Cards, Mar 23
September
As Luck Would Have It, Sep 9

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