3 players · You and two AIs · One deal

Win the auction and play alone against two defenders. Choose a suit game, Grand or Null: capture points, or try to avoid every trick.

1. 1

   Objective

   • Win the auction to play alone against the other two players. Each player contributes one card to a trick; its winner takes all three and leads the next trick.
   • To win a suit or Grand contract, the declarer must meet both conditions: take at least 61 card points including the two Skat cards, and achieve a final game value at least as high as the bid. Card points determine the card-play result. Game value checks the bid and determines the settlement.
   • Null has the opposite objective: the declarer must take no tricks. Taking even one trick loses immediately.
2. 2

   Setup

   • Use all 32 cards: ten each and two hidden Skat cards. Randomly choose the dealer. Forehand sits left, then middlehand.
   • Middlehand bids to forehand, who accepts or passes. Middlehand may raise. Passed players cannot return. Rearhand then bids above the first duel's survivor. If both challengers pass, forehand may take 18 or cancel the deal.
   • Declarer may take Skat and discard any two, or play Hand without looking. Choose a suit, Grand, Null or Null Ouvert. Skat and discards count for declarer.
3. 3

   Playing a turn

   • Forehand always leads first. Play clockwise. Follow effective suit if able, otherwise play anything. Highest trump wins, otherwise highest of the led suit.
   • The four Unters are top trumps: Acorns, Leaves, Hearts, Bells, followed by the trump suit's Daus, 10, König, Ober, 9, 8, 7. Grand has only the four Unters as trumps. They do not belong to their printed suits.
   • Null has no trumps: Daus > König > Ober > Unter > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7. Null Ouvert exposes declarer's hand before play. Taking a trick immediately defeats declarer.
4. 4

   Scoring and ending

   • Daus = 11, 10 = 10, König = 4, Ober = 3, Unter = 2, others = 0. 120 total. A side with at most 30 is Schneider. No tricks is Schwarz.
   • Base values: Bells 9, Hearts 10, Leaves 11, Acorns 12. Grand 24. Multiply the base value by the multiplier below to obtain the game value.
   • First count the matadors: starting at the Acorn Unter and moving down the trump order, count consecutive trumps held, or consecutive trumps missing, stopping at the first change. Use the declarer’s original hand plus both Skat cards, including the unseen Skat in a Hand game.
   • The multiplier is the matador count + 1. Add 1 for Hand, 1 for Schneider and 1 for Schwarz whenever each applies. For example, a Hearts contract with two matadors and no extras has a game value of 10 × (2 + 1) = 30.
   • Null values: 23, Hand 35, Ouvert 46, Ouvert Hand 59. Win the game value or lose double. Overbid Suit/Grand fails despite sufficient card points, losing twice the smallest base multiple covering the bid.