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This description was contributed by Keith Waclena
(k-waclena@uchicago.edu), maintainer of the Austrian Beer Guide.
Table of Contents
A typical game proceeds as follows. The hands are dealt and the top card of the stock is turned up as trump. The hands are played out at trick-and-draw as the players vie to build up strength (usually in trumps) to allow them to close the stock. They also watch for valuable melds (marriages and the trump Jack, which can be swapped for the valuable turn-up trump) that can swing the hand
to a rapid close. All the while the players are keeping track of their own scores and their opponent's. At some point one of the players flips over the turn-up, signalling that the deck is closed and the cards remaining in hand are played out, with no replacement from the stock, following suit strictly, trumping and heading the trick when required. Usually one player's trumps come out immediately and she announces 66 before the hand is played out. But if she calls it incorrectly, her opponent wins a big bonus.
The Cards
Schnapsen is played with a 20-card French- or German-suited pack. I will describe the game with French suits. To play with a standard 52-card international pack, strip out the Nines through the Twos. Austrian Schnapsen packs come with 24 cards, as for Sechsundsechzig; you should strip out the Nines before playing.
The ranks and values of the cards follow the usual Central European model:
Card Value Ace 11 Ten 10 King 4 Queen 3 Jack 2
When playing with a German-suited pack, the ranks and values are as follows:
Card Value Daus (As) 11 Zehner 10 König 4 Ober (Dame) 3 Unter (Bube) 2
Note that the Daus, or two, is used as high card, instead of the ace (although
it is sometimes called the ace (As)). Note also that, in the absence of a
queen, same-sex marriages are between the König and Ober. In fact Obers are often referred to as Queens (Damen) and Unters as Jacks (Buben).
The Deal
Determine the dealer by any acceptable means; thereafter, the deal alternates.
After the shuffle and cut, deal five cards to each (traditionally by
two-then-three or vice versa). The next card is turned up to determine the trump suit, and the remaining stock of nine undealt cards is stacked face-down, crosswise on top of the trump, so that the value of the trump card can still be seen.
The Play
Non-dealer leads. In the first part of the hand, a trick is taken by the
highest card of the suit led, or by the highest trump if any is played. There
is no obligation to follow suit or to trump. The trick is taken by the winner
and, once turned face down in front of her, should not be looked at again.
The winner scores the point value of the two cards in the trick, as per the
table above. It is important for the players to try to remember how many points they have taken; these scores may not be written down or otherwise recorded, nor are the players allowed to look back at previous tricks to check how many points they have taken. After the trick is played, the winner of the trick takes the top card of the stock to replenish her hand, after which the loser does the same. The winner of the trick leads to the next.
The Trump Jack
As in many Central European Ace-Ten games, the holder of the lowest trump card
(in this case the Jack) may exchange it for the trump turn-up. This can only be
done by a player who has already won a trick. The exchange does not have to be made at the first possible opportunity - the holder of the trump jack can wait and exchange after any trick as long as cards still remain in the stock, and the stock has not been closed. The exchange must take place after both players have played to the trick, but before a card is led to the next trick; you can't exchange in the midst of a trick. Once the stock has been closed or exhausted, the trump jack cannot be exchanged.
Marriages
A marriage (the matched King and Queen of any suit) may be melded at any time
by leading one of the two to a trick; the other of the pair must be
shown simultaneously. This scores 20 points (for a plain marriage) or 40 points (for a royal marriage, i.e., a marriage in trumps). However, while a marriage can be melded at any time, the score does not count until the melder has taken a trick. So for example, a player may meld a royal marriage for 40 potential points on the opening lead, but if she doesn't take a trick by the end of the hand her score is zero.
Once the stock is closed or has been exhausted, no marriages may be melded.
Exhausting the Stock
If no one closes, eventually the last two cards of the stock are drawn - the last face-down card goes to the winner of this trick and the face-up trump to the loser. After this the rules of play change and become more strict. Players must follow suit; also, subject to the requirement to follow suit the second player must beat the led card if possible. This means that if your opponent leads a non-trump:
It is worth noting that among experienced players it does not often happen that the stock is exhausted; usually the stock is closed.
Last Trick
The player taking the last trick gains an extra ten points. However, this bonus is only obtained if the entire deck has been played out and no-one closed.
Closing
At any point, when it is her turn to lead, either player may close the
stock, by flipping over the trump turn-up and placing it face-down on the top
of the stock. (The opponent gets a chance to exchange the trump Jack.) The
stock can be closed either before drawing replacement cards or after, so the
final hand may contain either four or five cards apiece.
Once the stock is closed, the rules are as for when the stock is exhausted:
follow suit and head the trick if possible, otherwise trump, otherwise
renege, and no marriages. The remaining cards are played out.
Going Out
A player who believes she has 66 or more points can declare this fact, claiming to have won the hand. Play ceases immediately. Typically this happens when a player has just won a trick, but it may happen just as a player declares a marriage (and hence before the opponent has a chance to play her card -- even if the opponent does manage to play her card in this case the trick doesn't count towards the score).
At this point there are two possibilities: the player claiming to be out is right, or she is wrong. If she is right, she scores points toward game as follows:
If neither player went out, i.e., play continued to the very last trick, the winner is the player with more points. If the players are tied above 66, the game point goes to the winner of the next hand. A draw at 65 is possible, and scores no game points.
To determine the correctness of a claim, both players' points are counted up by recalling points for marriages and going through the cards won in tricks, though if both players agree on each other's scores this step can be skipped. (It's no insult to ask for the points to be counted.)
When settling a claim, it may sometimes turn out that the player who did not claim actually had 66 or more points. This does not affect the score - as long as the claim was correct, the claiming player wins, however many points the opponent had. The opponent should have kept better track of the score and claimed earlier.
Game
A game is won by the first player to reach seven game points.
Comments on Strategy
Nearly every card in Schnapsen counts. There's almost no deadwood, so you
have to think carefully about what you want to do with each card. Aces and
Tens are worth a lot of points, but you can't safely lead them in the first
half because your opponent is likely to trump them. You want to hold on to
Kings and Queens because of the potential for marriages, but of course your
opponent is probably holding the mates so you will need to discard them
eventually. This leaves only three Jacks that you can throw off to tricks
without pain (the trump Jack you probably want to keep for the exchange). Of
course you'll be forced to break these rules on occasion. You might pull
trump with Aces or Tens when holding a long non-trump suit. It can be
advantageous to not have the lead in the first half, so that you can win
tricks with Tens and Aces to gain points, but you need to be able to get the
lead back in order to meld marriages. But there are so few cards in your
hand, and the stock runs out so quickly, that you usually can't manage to make
plans like these work.
Closing at the right time is the key tactic of the game. You need to count your points, and always keep a count of the sure points that you could win if you closed, along with the average points you'd gain from your opponent. The minute you have a sure (or likely) 66, you should close and rake in your game points. You also need to count your opponent's points, so that you can change your strategy when you think she's about to close (quickly using your trump to be sure to cross the Rubicon of 33 points, for example). A risky close might be indicated if your opponent can be made Schneider or Schwartz.
Don't be put off your stride by a few bad hands; Schnapsen allows exciting come-from-behind wins. There's nothing like winning the game after your opponent is ahead 6-0!
Bauernschnapsen (Farmer's Schnapsen) - an elaborated four-handed partnership version of Schnapsen - and Talon-Schnapsen - a version of Schnapsen for three players - are described on a separate page.
The German progenitor of Schnapsen, Sechsundsechzig ("Sixty-Six"), is played exactly the same way, except that a 24-card pack is used, including the Nines, which count zero points in tricks, and six cards are dealt, rather than five. The Nine of trumps is used for the exchange. Schnapsen is a tighter game by virtue of the elimination of the Nines.
Gaigel is a four handed partnership version of Sechsundsechzig, played with a double 24-card pack. It's a fun game but lacks the strategic element of closing.
The Schnapsen computer programs and Schnapsen97 and Schnapsen 2000 (which also plays Bauernschnapsen) are available from KEC Austria: Triangle productions.
A freeware Schnapsen program can be obtained from Michael Zillinger's site.
You can download a freeware Schnapsen / 66 program from Thanos Card Games.
A 66 game which can be played locally against the computer or on line is included in the Favorite Games Ltd. package..
You can play Schnapsen on line against live opponents at the Stargames site (the interface is in German).
A freeware Hungarian Snapszer computer program is available from www.nold.hu
66 can be played on line at Game Desire
PlayOK Online Games (formerly known as Kurnik) offer 66 and Schnapsen.
You can play Snapszer, the Hungarian form of Schnapsen, on line against computer or human opponents at UltiNet and its English edition Rummy Network.
Last updated 23rd April 2008
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