Skat game value: matadors, Schneider and Schwarz explained
The game value decides a Skat hand twice: in the bidding, because you may only go as high as your game will be worth at the end, and in the scoring, because exactly this value goes on the score sheet. The formula is short; the traps are in the details: how to count matadors, what the skat does to them, and when Schneider and Schwarz are added. This page goes through all of it with examples. The full sequence of bid values is in the bidding table.
Game value = base value × (matadors + game levels)
Base values: diamonds 9, hearts 10, spades 11, clubs 12, Grand 24. Null games have fixed values and no matadors; they are on the Null and Grand page.
Counting matadors
A suit game has eleven trumps in a fixed order: jack of clubs, jack of spades, jack of hearts, jack of diamonds, then the ace, ten, king, queen, nine, eight and seven of the trump suit. In a Grand only the four jacks are trumps.
You count from the top:
- With: you hold the jack of clubs. Count how many trumps you hold from the top without a gap. Jack of clubs, jack of spades, no jack of hearts: with two.
- Without: you lack the jack of clubs. Count how many trumps you are missing from the top without a gap. No jack of clubs, no jack of spades, but the jack of hearts: without two.
"With" and "without" count the same: with two and without two are both 2 matadors. A suit game can have at most 11 matadors (all eleven trumps or none of them), a Grand at most 4.
| Your trumps from the top | Matadors |
|---|---|
| jack of clubs, no jack of spades | with 1 |
| all four jacks and the ace, no ten | with 5 |
| no jack of clubs, jack of spades | without 1 |
| only the jack of diamonds and the trump ace | without 3 |
The skat counts too
For the matadors the two skat cards belong to your hand, even in a hand game where you never look at the skat. That gives a rule that explains many overbid games:
- "With" can only go up through the skat. A player who bids with one and finds the jack of spades in the skat plays with two.
- "Without" can go down through the skat. A player who counts without two and finds the jack of clubs in the skat suddenly plays with just one.
Example: you hold the jack of hearts but neither the jack of clubs nor the jack of spades, and you bid hearts without two up to 30 (10 × 3). The jack of clubs is in the skat. Now you have hearts with one, game 2, so 20. That does not cover 30: without a further level you have overbid. The only rescue is Schneider (with one, game 2, Schneider 3 = 30). That is why players bid carefully when they count "without".
The game levels
You always add 1 for the game to the matadors. Every further level reached or announced adds another 1:
| Level | When it counts |
|---|---|
| Game | always |
| Hand | you play without picking up the skat |
| Schneider | one side has 30 card points or fewer |
| Schneider announced | hand games only, when the game is declared |
| Schwarz | one side takes no trick at all |
| Schwarz announced | hand games only |
| Ouvert | hand game with open cards, requires Schwarz announced |
Schneider
There are 120 card points in play. If the declarer takes 90 or more, the opponents have at most 30 and are Schneider. With 31 points the opponents are out of Schneider. It works the other way too: if the declarer takes 30 or fewer, the declarer is Schneider and the level counts against them.
Schwarz
Schwarz counts tricks, not points. A trick of three low cards worth zero points is enough for the opponents to avoid Schwarz. Schwarz always means Schneider as well, and both levels count.
Announcements
Only a hand game may announce Schneider or Schwarz. The announcement adds a level, but the game is lost if what was announced is not reached: a declarer who announces Schneider and ends with 85 points loses, although 85 would otherwise be a safe win.
Worked examples
- Clubs with two: matadors 2, game 3: 12 × 3 = 36.
- Diamonds without three (only the jack of diamonds from the top): matadors 3, game 4: 9 × 4 = 36.
- Spades with five (four jacks and the ace of spades): matadors 5, game 6: 11 × 6 = 66.
- Grand without one, hand, Schneider reached: matadors 1, game 2, hand 3, Schneider 4: 24 × 4 = 96.
- Hearts with one, hand, Schneider announced and reached: matadors 1, game 2, hand 3, Schneider 4, announced 5: 10 × 5 = 50.
Lost and overbid
A lost game is deducted at double the game value. In tournament scoring another 50 points come on top; details on the Seeger-Fabian page.
Schneider counts when losing too. Clubs with one, and the declarer takes only 28 points: matadors 1, game 2, Schneider 3, so 12 × 3 = 36, lost double: minus 72.
A declarer has overbid when the game shown at the end is worth less than the bid. The game is then lost, even with 61 points or more. It is scored at the smallest multiple of the base value that reaches the bid. A player who bid 30 and ends up showing hearts with one and no Schneider (20) loses 30 doubled: minus 60, however many points they took.
Practice
After a few dozen hands you count matadors in your head. Until then the free bid calculator in Grand Skat helps (menu "Bid calculator"): pick the game, matadors and announcements, and it shows the game value and how far you may bid. Lesson 7 of the free tutorial practises matadors, Schneider and Schwarz on real cards, and after every hand the result window shows the matadors and the game value. Play now on grandskat.com, free in the browser. Legal notice in the Impressum.