The Schnapsen Log
The Lowly Jack (solution)
Martin Tompa
I’m sure you know by now that, when following to the last trick before the stock is exhausted, the first thing you should consider is ducking. If you’re going to duck her ♦J, the obvious discard is ♣K, in order to deny Aunt Polona her ♣A later. If you discard this, you will draw the lowly jack of trumps and Polona will be on lead from this position:
Polona: (46 points)
♠ K
♥ TK
♣ A
♦ QYou: (24 points)
♠ —
♥ AJ
♣ —
♦ ATK
Unless she forces you to trump, the only trick she is going to take is ♥T. So her best play from this position is ♠K to try to gain trump control. You trump this with your lowly jack and cash ♦A to reach this position:
Polona: (46 points)
♠ —
♥ TK
♣ A
♦ —You: (44 points)
♠ —
♥ A
♣ —
♦ TK
Your next lead of ♦K is a counterforce play, leaving Polona endplayed in this position:
Polona: (60 points)
♠ —
♥ K
♣ A
♦ —You: (44 points)
♠ —
♥ A
♣ —
♦ T
She cannot force you again with ♣A, because that trick would bring your trick point total to 66. Therefore all she can do is lead ♥K to pull trumps for you, after which your ♦T takes the last trick. Either way, you win 1 game point and the entire game.
Going back to trick 5, we could investigate what you might draw from the stock and how the endgame would proceed if you took Polite Polona’s bait and won her ♦J lead. But there’s really no point in doing so, is there? You cannot win more than the 1 game point you are guaranteed to win by ducking, so why waste your energy? Save it for the next game.
© 2013 Martin Tompa. All rights reserved.
