Schnapsen is one of the most popular card games in Austria. It is played by thousands of people each and every day. Yet, articles on strategy are hard to find.
Let’s change that!
By creating this blog, I would not only like to introduce new players to this exciting game, but also provide strategy articles that might even help experienced players improve their game.
After stating the rules of Schnapsen in the first couple of posts, the main focus is going to be on strategy. The concepts to be presented will be applied to sample hands and actual playing situations in order to emphasize their importance.
Throughout the posts, I will use the following abbreviations: Capital letters A, K, Q, J, and T stand for aces, kings, queens, jacks, and tens. The letters h, c, s, d, and t designate the suits: hearts, clubs, spades, diamonds, and trumps. In Schnapsen, any suit could be the trump suit in a particular game; however, certain situations can only be correctly assessed if you know which of your cards belong to the trump suit.
Next, I would like to point out that I will provide a glossary of Schnapsen-related terms. There are two reasons for that: First, new players who are not quite familiar with all the terms might appreciate a site where the key terms are explained. Second, since a few German native speakers might be interested in this topic as well, I believe it is a good idea to explain various basic terms of trick-taking games as these terms are not part of everybody's basic English vocabulary (as a German native speaker myself I have to admit that I did not know many of the terms when I first started reading about the subject).
Last but not least, I must stress the fact that in certain playing situations there might not be one single “correct” strategy. Instead, quite a few strategies might be similarly successful. I will try to provide arguments for and against alternative strategies and thus decide what to do in those situations. Furthermore, I will try and do my best to arrive at the right conclusions. However, mistakes can happen. The reader is advised to challenge the concepts that will be presented in this blog. I will not take responsibility for any losses arising from the application of any of my statements. All posts should be viewed as an expression of my personal opinion. In the end, the only person responsible for his/her actions at the table is the actual player him-/herself.
But enough already! Let's get on with it...
