The Schnapsen Log

July 13, 2012

All the Aces

Martin Tompa

Your game against Uncle Hans continues, when you find yourself holding all four aces in the following interesting and very symmetric position:

Unseen cards:
♠ TK
♥ TK
♣ TK
♦ TK

Your cards:
♠ A
♥ A
♣ A
♦ AQ

Trump: ♣J
Stock: 3 face-down cards
Game points: Hans 6, You 5
Trick points: Hans 50, You 5
On lead: You

Hans showed the royal marriage for 40 points earlier in the deal, which is why he is so far ahead in trick points. Hopefully you can use all those aces to overcome what looks to be an insurmountable lead.

Plan your play for the remainder of the deal. Don’t forget that you know one of Hans’s cards for a certainty. When you think you have a good plan, you are welcome to read my analysis.

© 2012 Martin Tompa. All rights reserved.

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About the Author

Martin Tompa (tompa@psellos.com)

I am a Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where I teach discrete mathematics, logic, probability, design and analysis of algorithms, and other related courses. I have always loved playing games. Games are great tools for learning to think logically but, more important, seem to me an integral part of happy family or social life. I will be delighted if game-players, parents, teachers, and students find this series fun and useful.

My excitement about Schnapsen was rekindled by playing against an iPhone program called Master Schnapsen/66 written by two friends at Psellos. Set to play at its “Master” level of difficulty, this program is one of the two most formidable opponents I have found. It comes up with surprising and brilliant plays, and I have learned an enormous amount of Schnapsen strategy by playing with it. Nearly every deal in this Schnapsen Log arose during those hours of playing with Master Schnapsen/66.