The Schnapsen Log
Rules of Engagement (solution)
Martin Tompa
Do you think about closing the stock this early in the deal, and even earlier? You should, particularly if you have good trumps and the winners in your hand bring your trick point total into the fifties or higher. In today’s hand, Liesl has very good trumps (though she may or may not have control of the trumps, depending on whether Peter has both ♦TK), and her three aces and tens bring her trick point total to 53. So let’s pursue this avenue further.
If Peter has at most one trump in his hand, she will have no problem. By pulling his trump first, all the cards in her hand are winners. Her cards alone will bring her trick point total to 58, and Peter must contribute at least 17, for a total of 75.
The only concern is when Peter holds both ♦TK. In this case, Liesl will have to give up some trick to him. Do you see how to do it without losing control of the hand and letting him run whatever hearts he holds? For instance, suppose that this is the position:
Peter: (32 points)
♠ —
♥ AT
♣ K
♦ TKLiesl: (21 points)
♠ A
♥ —
♣ TJ
♦ AQ
How would you play it?
The solution is to pull just one trump with ♦A, then play ♣T and ♣J in that order. Should you worry about Peter trumping Liesl’s ♣T, which she probably cannot afford to lose in order to get to 66 trick points? No. We know that he has ♣K in hand, because he showed the club marriage earlier. So he must follow suit to the first club, and then Liesl’s ♣J will force him to trump with ♦T. This will be the new position, with Peter on lead:
Unseen cards:
♠ KQ
♥ ATJ
♣ —
♦ —Liesl’s cards:
♠ A
♥ —
♣ —
♦ QTrick points: Peter 44, Liesl 50
Even if Peter holds the other marriage, he will only get to 64 trick points, and Liesl will take the last two tricks whatever he leads. Peter must contribute at least a jack and queen, and Liesl’s final trick point total will be at least 69.
Thus, it is entirely safe to close the stock, and a gain of 2 game points is guaranteed.
© 2014 Martin Tompa. All rights reserved.
