Jass: Schieber♠

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A Swiss family, here Schieber

Jass names a family, and in Switzerland the verb jassen can mean playing cards more generally. Swiss German packs use acorns, shields, roses and bells; French-suited cards are also traditional in parts of Switzerland. This guide selects partnership Schieber, whose defining choice is to name a contract or push that choice to your partner. It is not a universal rulebook for all Jass games. No single inventor or precise birth date is established. We use the classic small-Weis profile and classic reversed-play card values; newer declaration and scoring conventions are separated.

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Partners opposite, nine cards each

Use 36 cards, ranks 6–A in each suit, no jokers, for 4 players in 2 opposite partnerships. French Q replaces Ober, J Under, 10 Banner. Choose an initial dealer, shuffle and deal anticlockwise in packets of 3, starting on the right, until all have 9. No stock or dummy. On the first hand the holder of 7♣ is forehand and chooses contract, but need not lead that card. That forehand deals the second hand. Afterwards forehand is dealer’s right neighbour, and dealer rotates right.

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Choose or push the contract

Forehand names a trump suit or says schieben, passing the choice to partner, who must choose and cannot return it. Forehand still leads first. Classic multipliers with French suits: ♣ or ♠ ×1, ♦ or ♥ ×2, Obenabe ×3, Undenufe ×4. Obenabe has no trump, high to low A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6. Undenufe has no trump, reverse order 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K A. There is no competitive auction. Multiply all deal scores, including declarations, by the chosen factor.

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Winning strength and captured points differ

In non-trump suits, high to low A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6, points respectively 11, 4, 3, 2, 10, 0, 0, 0, 0. Trump order J 9 A K Q 10 8 7 6, values 20, 14, 11, 4, 3, 10, 0, 0, 0. Trump J is Puur; trump 9 Näll. In both no-trump contracts eights become worth 8. Our classic Undenufe keeps A worth 11 and 6 worth 0 despite reversed trick strength; modern A0/6=11 is a separate variant. Card points total 152, plus last trick 5 gives 157.

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Trumping while able to follow is legal

Play anticlockwise, 1 card each per trick; winner leads next. Without trump, follow suit if possible, otherwise any card; highest by the contract’s order wins. With trump, follow the led suit or play a trump even if you could follow. If void, any card subject to undertrumping: on a non-trump lead already trumped, you cannot play a lower trump unless your entire remaining hand is trumps. This restriction applies even when partner is winning. When trump is led, follow if possible, except you may withhold a lone Puur and discard another card. Highest trump wins; otherwise highest led-suit card.

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Small Weis and choosing the best declaration

Weis uses cards held initially, not captured later. Same-suit sequences of 3 score 20, 4 score 50, 5 or more score 100. Four A, K, Q or 10 score 100; four J score 200. No four-nines Weis here. Sequences always use normal adjacent ranks, even in trump; cards cannot overlap separate Weis. A long run of 8 may split into 5 and 3. During your first trick play announce your best eligible Weis. Compare score, then card count, then rank; Undenufe reverses rank comparison. Equal sequences prefer trump, otherwise the earlier player in opening-trick order. Only the partnership with the best single Weis scores all its declared disjoint Weis.

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Verify Weis and announce Stöck

Announce a Weis only if at least as good as one already announced, revealing only enough detail to compare. Resolve the winner after the first trick; partner then adds their eligible Weis. Before the next lead any other player may request to see scored cards. Record declarations multiplied immediately. Stöck is the trump K and Q held by one player at the start, worth 20 before multiplier, independent of who wins Weis. Announce when playing the second card or when both have been displayed in a scored Weis. It may also be claimed later before final counting, and early if it wins the game. No Stöck in no-trump.

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Trick totals and the sweep

At deal end add captured card points plus 5 for last trick. Both sides normally sum to 157 before multipliers and declarations. All 9 tricks add a further 100 for match, making 257 before factor. Multiply trick total once; do not multiply already recorded Weis or Stöck again. A team can count the value of its won tricks mentally during play but cannot turn captured tricks back over for assistance. The cards’ capture value is separate from the score used to compare a Weis.

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Claim the target, with a clear priority

Target 3000 may be reached during a deal. Any player can claim victory; stop and add won-trick points not yet recorded to the claiming team’s written score, including any eligible Stöck. At least 3000 wins; a false claim loses the game. If both claim in the opening trick, settle Stöck, then Weis, then trick points, stopping at the first team reaching target. This selected priority is Stöck–Weis–Stich. If opponents remain below 1500, they are Schneider and the victory counts as two games in a series. Other target scores and priority orders must be agreed before a different session.

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A legal early trump wins valuable cards

Hearts trump, multiplier 2. Anticlockwise A leads A♣, B plays 9♥, C holds 8♣ but chooses J♥, D follows 7♣. C’s trump is legal despite having clubs and beats the nine: 11 + 14 + 20 + 0 = 45 captured points, worth 90 after multiplier. C could not instead undertrump with 6♥ while still holding 8♣. In a completed hand with team trick totals 100 and 57, plus winning Weis 20 on the first team, scores are (100 + 20) × 2 = 240 and 57 × 2 = 114.

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