Psellos
Life So Short, the Craft So Long to Learn

The Schnapsen Log

March 4, 2017

Noble Sacrifice

Martin Tompa

Your game against Uncle Tibor must draw to a close with this deal, because the game point score is now tied 1:1.

Concealed cards:
TQ
Q
♣ AT
T

Your cards:
AKJ
K
♣ J

Trump: ♣Q
Stock: 1 face-down card
Game points: Tibor 1, You 1
Trick points: Tibor 32, You 15
On lead: Tibor

Tibor thinks a bit and then, to your dismay, closes the stock. Your prospects do not look good and you feel your pulse start to race.

Tibor plays ♣A followed by ♣T. What is your plan? When you are ready, you are welcome to read my analysis.

© 2017 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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