Book review
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Reviewed by Kerry Handscomb
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This review of Winning Schnapsen should accompany the Schnapsen article in this issue. The book and the article are both written by Schnapsen expert Dr. Martin Tompa. Winning Schnapsen is a rare kind of book, about a single game that is not one of the "big" games: Chess, Bridge, Go, Xiang Qi, and so on.
Schnapsen is not a new game and indeed it has a long history in its native Austria and Hungary. According to the author, references to Schnapsen go back 300 years, and I suspect it was a popular game in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire of the Nineteenth Century. Schnapsen is still played in its native territory, but I think little known elsewhere.
Schnapsen is a card game for two in the large European class of point-trick and melding games. Every European country has its own versions from this genre. Collectively, they may be the deepest and most skilful of all traditional card games, maybe with the exception of some of the pure trick-takers, such as Bridge or Vint. Perhaps Schnapsen can compete for interest and depth with any other two-player trick-taking game, whether ancient or modern. Indeed, according to the author of Winning Schnapsen, Schnapsen is the best of all the two-player card games. He may be right.
Usually, points are accumulated in the point-trick and melding games during the play of a hand, from points accumulated from cards won in tricks and from scoring combinations “melded” from the hand. The number of points captured, not the number of tricks won, determines the winner of the deal. In Schnapsen, the points acquired during play are used to determine the winner of the hand, and then the winner scores game-points according to a different schedule. This is true also of Skat, for example. In contrast, in Pinochle or Bezique, the points won through tricks and melds are themselves counted as game-points. Sometimes the points accumulated during play depend mostly, or entirely, upon points won in tricks. Skat is such a game that depends completely on trick points, with no points scored for melded combinations. In Schnapsen itself, trick points dominate, but King-Queen “marriage” combinations also are scored. In games like Jass, or Klabberjass the trick points are still dominant, but a variety of combinations of cards can be melded and scored. In the Bezique games, and particularly in the larger versions such as Rubicon Bezique or Six-pack Bezique, melded combinations of cards are the primary way of scoring, or even the only way of scoring.
Schnapsen uses only 20 cards, which is fewer than any other game in the genre. The Bezique sub-genre evolved in the opposite direction, towards ever larger and larger decks—Eight-pack Bezique, for example, uses 256 cards. Perhaps few card games with a deck the size of Schnapsen’s, if any, can approach the same level of interest. I suspect that Schnapsen requires as much or even more skill that any of the larger games in the genre, at least among the two-player games. I find it very interesting that the minimalist member of the point-trick and melding genre is one of its most skilful representatives.
And, so, to the book itself. Winning Schnapsen begins with a first chapter covering the rules and some very basic strategy. Then, Chapters 2 to 11 each covers an aspect of the Schnapsen strategy and tactics. The author writes, "Surprisingly, no one seems to have written about this rich topic, in contrast to the many books on the games of bridge and chess."
The chapter titles after the rules are Basic Plays, Force and Counterforce, Throw-in and Elimination, Expectation, Ducking Ruff, Tempo and the Last Trick, Inference, Squeezes, Role Reversal, and Deception. The analysis of game positions is detailed and interesting. The author uses characters drawn from his family history as players and kibitzers in the positions he illustrates. He has a light and easy writing style that prevents the book from becoming dry. Winning Schnapsen is both well written, challenging, and highly personal.
Good play in so many card games depends on remembering the cards already played, and Schnapsen is not an exception. Schnapsen has only 20 cards, which ought not to be difficult to keep track of. However, other aspects of the game require significant thought, which in my experience can easily displace a carefully hoarded recall of cards already played. The author gives brilliant advice on how to remember cards played and (more significantly) the cards remaining. To my mind, the small number of cards is an advantage of Schnapsen compared with many other card games, permitting the memory factor to take a back seat to technical analysis and strategy.
The final chapter is a collection of endgame puzzles accompanied by some of Dr. Tompa's family history from the time of the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I until the family finally settled in America in the 1960’s. Again, the story is interspersed with descriptions of Schnapsen deals with careful endgame analysis.
The material in Winning Schnapsen is fascinating and unique—and huge, with 440 pages. I do not know whether there are similarly comprehensive Schnapsen books in German or Hungarian, although the author’s bibliography does not list any. I suspect there is no book on Schnapsen comparable to Winning Schnapsen in any language.
Among the two-player card games, advanced Cribbage theory is surprisingly deep and interesting. The classic Piquet is also challenging and has been written about here and there. Bridgette, WYSIWYG, and Slam are also fascinating two-player card games. And, of course, there are dozens of modern representatives of the genre played with specialized decks. However, if ever I have the time and opportunity to focus on a single traditional two-player card game, it will now be Schnapsen, largely because this book is such a wonderful resource. If you wish to investigate a two-player card game with some history that somehow feels ultra-modern, then try Schnapsen. Then, if you do, you must get this book and study it.
Schnapsen is not a new game and indeed it has a long history in its native Austria and Hungary. According to the author, references to Schnapsen go back 300 years, and I suspect it was a popular game in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire of the Nineteenth Century. Schnapsen is still played in its native territory, but I think little known elsewhere.
Schnapsen is a card game for two in the large European class of point-trick and melding games. Every European country has its own versions from this genre. Collectively, they may be the deepest and most skilful of all traditional card games, maybe with the exception of some of the pure trick-takers, such as Bridge or Vint. Perhaps Schnapsen can compete for interest and depth with any other two-player trick-taking game, whether ancient or modern. Indeed, according to the author of Winning Schnapsen, Schnapsen is the best of all the two-player card games. He may be right.
Usually, points are accumulated in the point-trick and melding games during the play of a hand, from points accumulated from cards won in tricks and from scoring combinations “melded” from the hand. The number of points captured, not the number of tricks won, determines the winner of the deal. In Schnapsen, the points acquired during play are used to determine the winner of the hand, and then the winner scores game-points according to a different schedule. This is true also of Skat, for example. In contrast, in Pinochle or Bezique, the points won through tricks and melds are themselves counted as game-points. Sometimes the points accumulated during play depend mostly, or entirely, upon points won in tricks. Skat is such a game that depends completely on trick points, with no points scored for melded combinations. In Schnapsen itself, trick points dominate, but King-Queen “marriage” combinations also are scored. In games like Jass, or Klabberjass the trick points are still dominant, but a variety of combinations of cards can be melded and scored. In the Bezique games, and particularly in the larger versions such as Rubicon Bezique or Six-pack Bezique, melded combinations of cards are the primary way of scoring, or even the only way of scoring.
Schnapsen uses only 20 cards, which is fewer than any other game in the genre. The Bezique sub-genre evolved in the opposite direction, towards ever larger and larger decks—Eight-pack Bezique, for example, uses 256 cards. Perhaps few card games with a deck the size of Schnapsen’s, if any, can approach the same level of interest. I suspect that Schnapsen requires as much or even more skill that any of the larger games in the genre, at least among the two-player games. I find it very interesting that the minimalist member of the point-trick and melding genre is one of its most skilful representatives.
And, so, to the book itself. Winning Schnapsen begins with a first chapter covering the rules and some very basic strategy. Then, Chapters 2 to 11 each covers an aspect of the Schnapsen strategy and tactics. The author writes, "Surprisingly, no one seems to have written about this rich topic, in contrast to the many books on the games of bridge and chess."
The chapter titles after the rules are Basic Plays, Force and Counterforce, Throw-in and Elimination, Expectation, Ducking Ruff, Tempo and the Last Trick, Inference, Squeezes, Role Reversal, and Deception. The analysis of game positions is detailed and interesting. The author uses characters drawn from his family history as players and kibitzers in the positions he illustrates. He has a light and easy writing style that prevents the book from becoming dry. Winning Schnapsen is both well written, challenging, and highly personal.
Good play in so many card games depends on remembering the cards already played, and Schnapsen is not an exception. Schnapsen has only 20 cards, which ought not to be difficult to keep track of. However, other aspects of the game require significant thought, which in my experience can easily displace a carefully hoarded recall of cards already played. The author gives brilliant advice on how to remember cards played and (more significantly) the cards remaining. To my mind, the small number of cards is an advantage of Schnapsen compared with many other card games, permitting the memory factor to take a back seat to technical analysis and strategy.
The final chapter is a collection of endgame puzzles accompanied by some of Dr. Tompa's family history from the time of the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I until the family finally settled in America in the 1960’s. Again, the story is interspersed with descriptions of Schnapsen deals with careful endgame analysis.
The material in Winning Schnapsen is fascinating and unique—and huge, with 440 pages. I do not know whether there are similarly comprehensive Schnapsen books in German or Hungarian, although the author’s bibliography does not list any. I suspect there is no book on Schnapsen comparable to Winning Schnapsen in any language.
Among the two-player card games, advanced Cribbage theory is surprisingly deep and interesting. The classic Piquet is also challenging and has been written about here and there. Bridgette, WYSIWYG, and Slam are also fascinating two-player card games. And, of course, there are dozens of modern representatives of the genre played with specialized decks. However, if ever I have the time and opportunity to focus on a single traditional two-player card game, it will now be Schnapsen, largely because this book is such a wonderful resource. If you wish to investigate a two-player card game with some history that somehow feels ultra-modern, then try Schnapsen. Then, if you do, you must get this book and study it.