Psellos
Life So Short, the Craft So Long to Learn

The Schnapsen Log

September 19, 2015

Nothing to Spare

Martin Tompa

In this second round of the tournament, you are still 1 game point away from vanquishing the formidable Katharina and moving on to the next round. Meanwhile, she is slowly closing the gap.

Concealed cards:
AQ
TJ
♣ KJ

Your cards:
TJ
AKQ
♣ —

Trump: J
Stock: 1 face-down card
Game points: Katharina 3, You 1
Trick points: Katharina 28, You 28
On lead: Katharina

It’s a close game, with the trick point score exactly tied. Katharina ponders for a few moments and then leads ♣K. You have no card you feel you can spare from your hand. What are you going to do? When you think you have a good plan, you are welcome to read my analysis.

© 2015 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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