Psellos
Life So Short, the Craft So Long to Learn

The Schnapsen Log

July 10, 2013

Measure Twice, Act Once

Martin Tompa

The whole family has taken a mid-afternoon break for coffee, cake, and camaraderie. Nourished and refreshed, you and Emmi return to the card table to finish the game. In the very first deal, you find yourself in this position:

Unseen cards:
TK
TK
♣ Q
A

Your cards:
Q
Q
♣ TK
Q

Trump: ♣J
Stock: 1 face-down card
Game points: Emmi 2, You 4
Trick points: Emmi 32, You 21
On lead: Emmi

Emmi pauses to think, then leads K. Plan your play. When you think you’ve come up with 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

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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