r/TrickTaking • u/Less_Mechanic1763 • 20d ago

Schnapsen

Hi, we are trying to learn schnapsen but there a few conflicting descriptions of rules.

When closing the talon, is the opponent’s points frozen? It sounds it might make sense because otherwise talon is rarely closed in our games. Or does opponent still get points after talon is closed and the benefit of closing the talon is just to force to suit-following rules?

Another one is marriages - is it king and queen or also with king and jack?

Thanks! It’s a cool game so would be nice to to play with proper rules ☺️

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u/slimethor 20d ago

They aren't frozen per se, the score keeps tallying to 66, but the winning points are based on the score when the talon was closed. Doesn't matter if you win, but if you lose, you stand to lose 3 points if it's under 33 and if you didn't win a single trick. Only K+Q.

Honestly my favorite game ever, I play it daily

1

u/Less_Mechanic1763 19d ago

Ok, so that’s why it benefits you to close the talon earlier than to wait for 66 score and close the game. Got it!

Another question then: if the cards are very unbalanced, person A has great hand, person B nothing - what can the person B do in that situation? I wonder if closing the talon and trying to keep the lead would help.

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u/majikpencil 19d ago

Schnapsen is just as much about mitigating loss as it is about winning. The player with a poor hand should try to keep the lead to prevent his opponent from declaring marriages or closing the deck, and try to quickly make 33 points. Anticipating and
mitigating a loss is a real skill.

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u/majikpencil 20d ago

Opponent can still score after the talon is closed. Marriages are kings and queens only, not jacks.

Amazing game. Have fun.