The Schnapsen Log
Last To Go (solution)
Martin Tompa
The first thing I considered, as usual at this point in the deal, is closing the stock. If I could win either of my tens, that plus the ace of trump would give me plenty of trick points.
Winning the ♠T would require a throw-in. I couldn’t lead ♦T to throw Pedro in, because he would likely trump it with ♣T and then cash ♠A for enough trick points himself. For a similar reason, I couldn’t cash my ♣A and exit with ♣Q, because then he could cash both ♥T and ♠A for plenty. That leaves only one possibility, leading ♣Q immediately after closing the stock. Assuming Pedro wins with ♣T, he would be on lead from this position:
Unseen cards:
♠ AKJ
♥ T
♣ K
♦ —Peter’s cards:
♠ TQ
♥ —
♣ A
♦ TTrick points: Pedro 46, Peter 47
No matter what card remains face-down in the stock, Pedro is endplayed here in a very interesting way: he is simultaneously counterforced and thrown in! He cannot lead ♥T, because trumping that immediately gives me 68 trick points. He cannot lead ♣K, because that allows me to cash my ♦T for even more. Those two dead-ends form the counterforce part of the endplay. That means Pedro’s only choice is to open up the spade suit, which is the throw-in part. Whatever spade he leads, he can get to only 60 trick points himself, and then must let me win my ♠T and ♣A for enough.
A pretty combination, no? Since I am guaranteed to win 1 game point, there is no need to consider what might happen if I don’t close the stock: I can do no better than 1 game point.
© 2014 Martin Tompa. All rights reserved.
