The Schnapsen Log
When to Strike (solution)
Martin Tompa
What is the first thing you consider when following to the last trick before the stock is exhausted? You should first consider what happens if you duck, because the position one trick later is completely determined if you duck. The obvious discard is ♠J, in order to deny Rudi the possibility of cashing any big spades. If you do this, here is the position after drawing the last cards from the stock:
Rudi: (31 points)
♠ ATQ
♥ —
♣ TQ
♦ —You: (21 points)
♠ —
♥ AQJ
♣ AK
♦ —
Rudi will surely lead ♠Q next, and you will be thrown in, forced to open up the club suit eventually. That doesn’t sound good. It would have been so wonderful to keep Rudi at 31 trick points rather than giving up a club trick to him. Do you see a way to do that from this position?
After you trump Rudi’s ♠Q, did you notice that Rudi has no easy discards left in his hand? He will have only big spades and a vulnerable club suit, and you still have two trump winners that you can run. On the first, his discard will be ♠T, leaving you on lead from this position:
Rudi: (31 points)
♠ A
♥ —
♣ TQ
♦ —You: (48 points)
♠ —
♥ J
♣ AK
♦ —
What if you were now to lead your last trump, ♥J? Rudi would be squeezed. Whether he discards ♠A or ♣Q, your ♣A is guaranteed to give you enough trick points to win. You will score 2 game points.
Notice that there is now no need to consider winning his lead of ♠K at trick 5, since you cannot possibly do better than winning 2 game points. Save your mental energy for the next deal.
© 2015 Martin Tompa. All rights reserved.
