Skat♠

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Context and profile

Skat developed in Altenburg around 1810 by combining ideas from older German games. Modern international laws unify its rules. This guide includes suit, Grand and Null, pickup and Hand games, Schneider/Schwarz announcements and Ouvert. Optional Kontra and Ramsch are excluded. Play 12 deals, including passed-out deals; highest cumulative score wins, tied totals share the result.

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Cards and deal

Three play individually with 32 cards, 7 through ace. Choose the first dealer randomly and rotate clockwise. Shuffle, cut on the right, then deal clockwise from the left: three each, two face-down skat cards, four each, three each. Each hand has ten. Dealer’s left is forehand F, then middlehand M, then rearhand R, who is dealer.

In suit contracts all jacks are trumps, highest to lowest J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦, followed by trump A 10 K Q 9 8 7. Other suits rank A 10 K Q 9 8 7. In Grand only the four jacks are trumps. In Null there are no trumps and every suit ranks A K Q J 10 9 8 7. Card points in suit/Grand: A=11,10=10, K=4, Q=3, J=2, others=0; total 120.

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Auction and contract

Bids are achievable game values, beginning 18,20,22,23,24,27,30,33,35,36. M calls increasing values and F says yes to hold or passes. Once either passes, R bids against the survivor, starting higher than the last value called in the first stage, except R may open 18 if M passed immediately. The survivor holds or passes; a pass is final. The last survivor declares at the last value called or held. If M and R pass immediately, F may play 18 or pass out for zero; next dealer then deals.

Declarer may pick up the skat and discard any two face down, or announce Hand without seeing it. The skat always belongs to declarer for card points and matadors. After discarding, name a suit, Grand or Null; Null Ouvert exposes all ten cards before the opening lead. Hand status must be declared, including Null Hand and Null Ouvert Hand.

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Ten tricks and objectives

Forehand leads regardless of declarer. Play clockwise; follow suit if possible, remembering jacks belong only to trumps in suit/Grand. If void, play any card: trumping and overtrumping are optional. Highest trump wins, otherwise highest card of the led suit; winner leads next. No draw. Defenders combine their captured points but may not discuss hands.

After ten tricks declarer needs at least 61 card points including skat in suit/Grand; defenders win with 60. A side with 30 or fewer is Schneider; a side taking no tricks is Schwarz, even if its point total includes skat. Null succeeds only by losing every trick and ends immediately when declarer takes one.

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Hand announcements and Ouvert

Before the opening lead, a suit/Grand Hand player may announce Schneider, promising at least 90 card points including skat, or Schwarz, promising all ten tricks. These are unavailable after picking up the skat. Announced Schwarz also includes announced Schneider. Ouvert in suit/Grand requires Hand and announced Schwarz: expose all ten cards, sorted by suit and rank, before forehand leads, and win every trick. Unlike Null Ouvert, it is never a pickup contract.

For valuation add 1 for Schneider announced,1 for Schwarz announced and 1 for Ouvert, on top of matadors, game, Hand and actual Schneider/Schwarz levels. Thus success at announced Schneider counts matadors+game+Hand+Schneider+announcement; announced Schwarz additionally counts Schwarz and its announcement; Ouvert adds one more. Failure to meet an announced level loses even with 61 points. Count at least the multipliers that successful fulfilment would have required; do not additionally penalise a failed announcer for being Schneider themselves. Achieving a higher unpromised level adds that level.

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Game values and scoring

Suit bases are diamonds 9, hearts 10, spades 11, clubs 12; Grand 24. Count consecutive top trumps from J♣ held by declarer including skat, stopping at the first missing trump: with that many matadors. If J♣ is missing, count consecutive missing top trumps until the first held: without that many. In suit games this sequence can continue below jacks.

Multiply the base by matadors +1 for game +1 if Hand +1 for Schneider +1 for Schwarz when applicable. A Schwarz result also includes Schneider. Null has fixed values 23, Null Hand 35, Null Ouvert 46, Null Ouvert Hand 59. Successful declarer adds game value; failure deducts twice game value. Defenders score zero in our simple ledger.

The value must cover the final auction bid. Otherwise it is an overbid loss, even after winning sufficient cards. For suit/Grand deduct twice the smallest multiple of that contract’s base at least as high as both bid and actual game value. A Null announcement whose fixed value is below the final bid is invalid: concede a suitable suit or Grand game that covers the bid using all relevant multipliers, then deduct twice that value. Do not round up multiples of a Null value. No tournament bonuses are added.

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Worked contract

Declarer holds J♣ and J♠ but not J♥, including the skat, and chooses hearts after picking up. With two, game one: multiplier 3; 10×3=30. An auction of 27 is covered. Taking 72 card points leaves 48 for defenders, so neither Schneider nor Schwarz applies: declarer records+30. Taking 59 instead loses for−60.

Had declarer bid 33, the ordinary heart value 30 would be insufficient; even 72 card points would lose through overbidding. The smallest adequate heart multiple is 40, so record−80.

← On a small screen, scroll the diagram horizontally. →

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Advanced contracts are separate

Kontra, Ramsch and tournament performance bonuses require separate agreements. Our session uses the full standard contract menu with the simple ledger above; no performance bonus is added.

Common questions