The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (69 page)

Null ouvert, hand 59

Auction The player at dealer’s left is designated Forehand, the next

round is Middlehand, and the next Rearhand (who wil be the

round is Middlehand, and the next Rearhand (who wil be the

dealer if only three play). The auction is started by Middlehand

bidding against Forehand until one of them passes, whereupon

Rearhand may continue bidding against the survivor until one of

them also passes, leaving the other as the soloist.

Middlehand bids by naming successive game values from the

lowest upwards, i.e. 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 30, 33, 35, 36, etc. It is

not necessary to name every single one: you are al owed to jump-

bid, even to bid your highest possible game immediately; but it is

il egal to quote any number that does not correspond to an actual

game value.

To each of these, Forehand says ‘Yes’ if he is prepared to play a

game of equal or higher value. When one of them passes (either

Middlehand because he wil not make a higher bid, or Forehand

because he can’t accept the last bid named), Rearhand may

similarly continue against the survivor by naming the next higher

bid. When one of them passes, the survivor becomes the soloist, and

must play a game at least equal in value to the last bid made. If

neither Middlehand nor Rearhand wil open at 18, Forehand may

play any game; but if he also passes, the deal is annul ed and the

deal passes round (unless it is agreed to play Ramsch: see below).

Game announcement If wishing to take the skat, the soloist adds it

to his hand without revealing either card, makes any two discards

face down, and then announces his contract by naming a suit, or

declaring grand, or nul , or nul ouvert. The contract he names need

not be the one he had in mind when bidding (if any), so long as

what he does announce is going to be worth at least the amount he

bid.If playing from hand, he leaves the skat untouched and

immediately announces his game, adding ‘hand’ and any other

declaration that may be applicable, such as schneider or schwarz or

ouvert. If playing ouvert, he lays his hand of cards face up on the

table before the opening lead.

Conceding The soloist may concede the game atany time before

Conceding The soloist may concede the game atany time before

playing to the first trick. The commonest reason for conceding is

that, having bid ‘without’ a number of Jacks, he takes the skat and

finds it contains one that reduces his game value, so that he has bid

a greater amount than he can actual y score. (Ways of overcoming

this are outlined in the notes on play, below.)

Play Forehand leads to the first trick. Players must fol ow suit if

possible, otherwise may play any card. The trick is taken by the

highest card of the suit led, or by the highest trump if any are

played, and the winner of each trick leads to the next.

At grand, leading a Jack requires Jacks to be played if possible,

and the highest Jack wins the trick. In a suit contract, leading any

trump cal s for the play of any other trump, which may or may not

be a Jack.

Cards won by the partners are kept together in a single pile. Al

ten tricks must be played – except at nul , if the soloist wins a trick

– and the skat then faced to ensure that the game is correctly

valued.

Score if won The soloist wins if both the fol owing apply:

1. he took at least 61 card-points, or at least 90 if he declared

schneider, or every trick if he declared schwarz, or no trick at

al if he bid nul ; and

2. the game as valued in retrospect is worth at least the amount

bid. If successful, the bidder adds to his score the total value of

the game he has actual y won, which may be higher than his

original bid, but may not be lower.

(a) A hand game played ‘without’ two or more tops may be

reduced in value if the skat is found to contain a top, and may

therefore be lost by default.

(b) The skat counts as part of the hand for game valuation

purposes, so it is possible to be ‘with’ or ‘without’ eleven even

though only ten cards are actual y played.

Score if lost A lost game loses double the amount it would have

won if successful, but, before being doubled, this amount may have

to be increased.

First, if the soloist is schneidered, by failing to take at least 31

card-points, his lost game value is increased by an extra multiplier

before being doubled.

Second, if the game value is less than the bid, the amount to be

lost is the next higher multiple of the relevant base value above that

of the bid.

Example: You bid 36, intending to play ‘hearts, without two, game

three, hand four, times hearts 10 = 40’. You make your bid, but

then find one black Jack in the skat. This devalues your game to

‘with (or without) one, game two, hand three, game 30’. This being

less than your bid, you must losethe next higher multiple above

your bid, i.e. 40, which is then doubled to 80. Had you been

schneidered, you would have reckoned ‘with(out) one, game two,

hand three, schneidered four, lose 40 doubled’. You don’t have to

add another multiplier here, as the fact of being schneidered does it

for you.

Tournament score Tournament scoring is adjusted so as to at ach

greater weight to winning and losing contracts than to their relative

values. First, each player adds 50 for each game he has bid and

won, and deducts 50 for each he has bid and lost. Next, each player

adds 30 for each game bid and won by each opponent at a four-

player table, or 40 each at a three-player table.

Variations The fol owing practices (strictly non-tournament) may be

fol owed by prior agreement:

(a) Either partner may double the announced game (by announcing

kontra), and the soloist may redouble (rekontra), before the first

trick has been led to. In this case the score or penalty, as detailed

above, is doubled or quadrupled before being applied.

(b) If al three pass, play Ramsch instead of annul ing the hand.

Ramsch is played like grand, with only Jacks trump, and the aim is

to avoid taking the greatest number of card-points in tricks, each

playing on his own account. The commonest of several versions is

Schieberramsch (Push Ramsch). In this, Forehand takes the skat and

passes two cards face down to Middlehand, who passes any two

face down to Rearhand, who discards any two to the skat. (Some

hold it il egal to pass or discard Jacks.) The winner of the last trick

adds the skat to his won cards, and whoever takes the most card-

points deducts that number from his score. (Ramsch is a game in its

own right: see Hearts family.)

(c) Grand counts 20 instead of 24.

(d) If the soloist holds the lowest trump (Seven in a suit game or

4J at grand) he may before play declare his intention of winning

the last trick ‘with a spit’ (mit Spitze), indicating this fact by turning

the spit back to front so that it faces outwards in his hand. This adds

an extra multiplier to the game value, which is lost if the soloist

fails to win the last trick with it. A player may take this possibility

into account when bidding, to increase the level to which he can

raise. (‘Spit’ as in spit-roast, not as in spit oon.)

(e) Even unorthodox German players no longer seem to admit

the old bid of tournee (see American Skat for description), but my

own Skat group has adopted it into the German game by giving it a

base value of 13, regardless of the suit turned.

Notes on play Start by put ing your Jacks and potential trump suit

together in high-low order. Without Jacks, you probably have no

game on unless you have one of the fol owing three types of hand: