The Schnapsen Log

January 10, 2013

The Lowly Jack

Martin Tompa

It’s come down to the very last deal in this close game against Polite Polona. Each of you needs only one more game point to win when you find yourself in this position.

Unseen cards:
♠ K
♥ TK
♣ A
♦ QJ

Your cards:
♠ —
♥ A
♣ K
♦ ATK

Trump: ♥J
Stock: 1 face-down card
Game points: Polona 1, You 1
Trick points: Polona 40, You 24
On lead: Polona

With an eerie sense of déjà vu, you notice the remarkable similarity of this position to the deal you just finished playing. This time, however, instead of leading a high trump, Polite Polona chooses to lead the lowly ♦J. Can you come from behind to win this game? Once you have a good plan, you are welcome to read my analysis.

© 2013 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, 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.