Schafskopf

Schafskopf is a delightful German card game is played with four players and a regular deck of cards. The deck is pared down so that only the 9, 10, Jack (Bube), Queen (Dame), King (König) and Ace of the four suits are used. It is a fun game, but it does have a learning curve. Strategy takes a long time to master. These rules were researched by Mr. Eckhardt Rubrecht in consultation with many of his family and friends in Germany.

I. Object of the Game

To capture cards having a cumulative value that is more than the value of your opponents' cards. The greater the win, the more points you receive.

II. Value of the Cards

Ace	11 points
Ten	10 points
King	4 points
Queen	3 points
Jack	2 points
Nine	0 points

III. Trump and Non-trump Cards

There are 12 trump cards in the deck, and 12 non-trump cards.
The trump cards in order of rank are:
1. Queen of Clubs (Kreuz Dame)
2. Queen of Spades (Pik Dame)
3. Queen of Hearts (Herzen Dame)
4. Queen of Diamonds (Karo Dame)
5. Jack of Clubs (Kreuz Bube)
6. Jack of Spades (Pik Bube)
7. Jack of Hearts (Herzen Bube)
8. Jack of Diamonds (Karo Bube)
9. Ace of Diamonds
10. Ten of Diamonds
11. King of Diamonds
12. Nine of Diamonds
The non-trump cards in order of rank are:
1. Ace
2. Ten
3. King
4. Nine
The suits have no bearing on the rank of the non-trump cards.

IV. The Play

Six cards are dealt to each player.
Players try to win each of the six tricks played during the hand.
The player to the left of the dealer leads.
All other players must follow suit if they can. For this game, trump is considered to be one suit (see above) and the three non-trump suits stand on their own.
The highest ranking card in a trick wins except when a trump card has been played during the trick. In that case, the highest ranking trump card wins the trick.
If non-trump is led and a player cannot follow suit, he may sluff (play a card from another non-trump suit) or trump the trick (play a trump card).
All trump cards outrank all non-trump cards.
If more than one player trumps a trick, the highest ranking trump card wins the trick.
Players usually play with a partner.
The exception to the previous rule is when a player has a very strong hand and feels he/she can beat the other three players single handedly. In this case he may "play a solo." For more information, see "special cases".
There is one primary team and one secondary team. In the case where a player is playing "solo", he is the primary team.
At the end of the hand, teams add up the total value of cards in their captured tricks.
1. If the winning team shuts out the other team (a Schwarz), it wins three points.
2. If the winning team scores 90 points (91 points if it is the primary team) it has skunked (a Schneider) the other team and counts two points.
3. Otherwise, the team with the highest total value wins one point.
4. In case of a tie, the secondary team wins the point.
5. The losing team receives no points.
In the case of a declared solo, points are doubled. (If the secondary wins against a player playing a solo, their points are likewise doubled).
The player with the most points at the end of all the hands wins.

V. The Partners

The Players with the two black queens (clubs and spades) will play together as partners in the primary team. (See below for other special cases).
Partnerships are established for each hand and dissolved at the end of each hand. (For this reason although you play as partners, your scores are maintained individually since you can have different partners for each hand).
To find one's partner, a player with one of the black queens will lead with either that queen or with a lower trump to indicate that he has that queen.
A player without either queen will lead with a non-trump card.
A big part of the strategy of each hand is to discover who your partner is as quickly as possible so that you can work together for the remaining tricks.
One aspect of the game involves the occasional attempt by one player to masquerade as a partner of the Primary team when he does not have a black queen and has no right to be a Primary partner. In these cases the scoring still goes to the true members of the Primary, but this player can attempt to steal more tricks than he would otherwise earn (presumably one other member of the primary would be trying to avoid out-trumping him). For this reason, it is common practice that both members of the Primary team play their black queens as quickly as is practical in the hand.

VI. Special Cases

If a player has a strong hand and feels he can defeat the other three players without a partner, he may declare that he will play a solo ("Ich spiele ein Solo"). In this case, the other three players form a team against him.
If a player desires to play a solo, he announces his intention to play a solo as the start of the hand.
If a player has both black queens but does not feel strong enough to play a solo, he looks for a partner by declaring "Erster Fehlstick geht mit" ("The first non-trump trick goes with me"--but it sounds much better in German and adds some authenticity to the game).
1. A trick is defined as non-trump if a non-trump card is led.
2. The player winning the first trick in which a non-trump is led becomes the partner of the player with two black queens. (There is thus some "jockeying" to be able to become the partner of the player with such a strong trump hand).
If a player has one of the black queens and no other trump:
1. he will put that queen face down on the table.
2. His partner (the player with the other black queen) will take that queen and give back a non-trump card which the first partner will sluff onto one of the second partner's tricks.

VII. Duration of Play

The game lasts as long as the four players agreed to. Usually it is agreed to end the game at a pre-defined time.

VIII. Glossary

Bube: A Jack in a deck of cards (literally, a knave or young boy).
Dame: Queen
Erster Fehlstich geht mit: The declaration that a player has both black queens and will await the winner of the first non-trump trick to become his partner.
Herzen: Hearts
Ich spiele ein Solo: The declaration that a player will play a solo against the three other players for that hand.
Karo: Diamonds
König: King
Kreuz: Clubs
Non-trump Trick: A trick which was led or opened with a non-trump card, regardless of whether someone trumped it during the play or not.
Pik: Spades
Primary Team: The team with the two black queens
Schafskopf: Sheeps Head--the name of a German card game played with 4 players and 24 cards.
Schwarz: A shut-out i.e. the winning team has taken all the points.
Secondary Team: The team that is not the Primary Team, i.e. the team without the two black queens.
Schneider: A skunking i.e. the winning team has won with at least 91 points if it is the Primary Team, or 90 points if it is the Secondary Team.
Sluff: to play a card from another non-trump suit when you cannot follow suit
Trump: to play a trump card when you cannot follow suit

IX. References

A number of web sites devoted to Schafskopf have sprung up recently. In many cases, the rules are quite different from the version outlined above. The version above is what I have known and it seems simpler to me (but what we find familiar is most always the simplest, is it not?) I offer these sites, to provide information on variations of the game, and some tips on strategy. Some sites also reference software and other resources. All of these sites are offered without warranty or recommendation:

Yahoo has a number of resources on Schafskopf, including rules, software, associations, and an on-line gaming version.
This German site has an abbreviated set of rules for one version of the game.
Another set of on-line rules, most variations (including this one) use 32 cards instead of the 24 proposed above. This site is easy to read. My compliments to its author.

Prepared by Daryle Niedermayer on December 11, 2000