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Columns for April, 2015

When Are Jacks in Hand Reassuring?

Martin Tompa
April 13, 2015

Normally, nontrump jacks seem fairly useless in Schnapsen; you would rather see higher ranking cards. But here’s a cute puzzle for you. Construct an initial hand in which it is reassuring to have been dealt a couple of nontrump jacks in your initial hand, and explain why it is better to have those jacks than some higher ranking cards. When you think you have a good solution, you are welcome to read mine.

© 2015 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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September
Sidestep a Few Landmines, Sep 2
June
Two Last-Trick Problems, Jun 27
May
More Extremes of Luck, May 21
April
Grasping at Straws, Apr 4
March
A New Scheme for Remembering Cards, Mar 23
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As Luck Would Have It, Sep 9

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