Psellos
Life So Short, the Craft So Long to Learn

The Schnapsen Log

September 2, 2015

A Handful of Losers

Martin Tompa

In the second round of the tournament, you continue what feels like an interminable game against the flamboyant champion Katharina. You are beginning to find it difficult to keep your focus, but you know that one lapse could be fatal.

Concealed cards:
TQ

♣ ATK
Q

Your cards:
K
Q
♣ QJ
J

Trump: T
Stock: 1 face-down card
Game points: Katharina 4, You 4
Trick points: Katharina 19, You 36
On lead: Katharina

Staring at your handful of losing cards, you find it difficult to stifle a groan. But stifle you must, because you don’t want to give away any useful information. Katharina concentrates on her cards for a while and finally leads ♣A. Plan your play. When you think you have a good plan, you are welcome to read my analysis.

© 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
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April
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March
A New Scheme for Remembering Cards, Mar 23
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As Luck Would Have It, Sep 9

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