The Schnapsen Log

Brains and Brawn (conclusion)

Martin Tompa

Since Peter leaves the stock open, Han is of course not required to win the diamond lead at trick 5. What will happen if Hans ducks, discarding one of his queens? That will bring Peter’s trick point total to at least 52, even if the diamond Peter led was ♦J. Hans will draw ♣J from the stock, and Peter can eventually pull that trump with his ♣K, bringing his trick point total to at least 58.

Now, what will Peter draw from the stock? Either a ten or a queen, obviously. If it is a ten, Peter can cash that for enough trick points to score 2 game points. If it is a queen, the marriage will likewise give Peter enough trick points, unless the queen he draws is ♦Q and he squandered his ♦K at trick 5. In that one circumstance, this would be the position after they draw their cards from the stock:

Hans: (14 points)
♠ T
♥ TQ
♣ J
♦ T

Peter: (54 points)
♠ K
♥ K
♣ K
♦ QJ

From this position, the only trick Peter is going to win is his trump, and Hans will win the deal. Therefore, it is a safety play to lead ♦J rather than ♦K at trick 5, protecting against the small probability that the last face-down card in the stock is ♦Q.

All right, then, back to trick 5. Peter leads ♦J, which Hans, realizing that he cannot afford to duck, wins with ♦Q. Here is the resulting position:

Hans: (19 points)
♠ TQ
♥ TQ
♣ —
♦ T

Peter: (47 points)
♠ K
♥ K
♣ KJ
♦ K

Hans is forced to lose a tempo by leading one of his winners, say ♠T, rather than reserving it as a later entry. He continues with ♠Q, which Peter trumps. This puts Peter back on lead from this posiition:

Hans: (33 points)
♠ —
♥ TQ
♣ —
♦ T

Peter: (54 points)
♠ —
♥ K
♣ J
♦ K

Peter now leads his last diamond and Hans loses yet another tempo! He is forced to lead his ♥T rather than preserving it as a later entry, and Peter wins the last trick with his last trump.

“That was a thing of beauty, Peter!” Hans congratulates his younger brother. “Two tempo endplays in the same deal! I have never seen that occur in all the years we’ve been playing.”

© 2013 Martin Tompa. All rights reserved.

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