Schafkopf

Schafkopf

Schafkopf (pronounced SHAHF-kopf, meaning “Sheepshead”) is the defining card game of Bavaria, played in clubs, tournaments and at home throughout southern Germany. The American game Sheepshead comes from it, brought by German immigrants.

The Deck

The 32-card Bavarian pack: four suits, Acorns, Leaves, Hearts and Bells, each with the Ace (Sau), King, Ober, Unter, 10, 9, 8 and 7.

The pack holds 120 card points.

Dealing

Four players each receive eight cards, dealt four at a time in two rounds, starting with forehand, the player to the dealer’s left. The deal passes clockwise.

Choosing the Game

Forehand speaks first. Each player in turn passes or names a game, and a game must outrank the one already named: a Rufer is lowest, then a Wenz, then a Solo. Between equal games, the player who spoke first keeps it. The player who names the highest game is the declarer. If everyone passes, the cards are thrown in and the next dealer deals.

The Games

Rufer (calling an ace). The declarer calls the Ace of a suit other than Hearts, in which they hold at least one card other than an Ober or Unter, and may not call an Ace they hold. Whoever holds the called Ace is the declarer’s partner, but says nothing: the partnership shows only when the Ace is played. Trumps are the four Obers, then the four Unters, then the Hearts.

Solo. The declarer plays alone against the other three, naming the suit that takes the place of Hearts among the trumps.

Wenz. The declarer plays alone, and only the four Unters are trumps. The Obers rank in their suits between the King and the 9.

Trumps

In a Rufer or Solo, from highest: the Obers of Acorns, Leaves, Hearts and Bells; the Unters in the same order; then the trump suit, Ace, 10, King, 9, 8, 7. That is 14 trumps. In a Wenz, the four Unters alone. Plain suits rank Ace, 10, King, 9, 8, 7, with the Ober between King and 9 in a Wenz.

Play

Forehand leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit if they can, and trumps count as one suit; a player who cannot follow may play anything. The highest trump wins, or the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads the next.

The called Ace must be played to the first trick in which its suit is led, even if that trick is already trumped. Its holder may not throw it away on another suit before then, except in the last trick. A holder with four or more cards of the called suit may instead run away: lead a lower card of the suit, after which the Ace is free.

Scoring

The declaring side, the declarer and partner in a Rufer or the declarer alone, needs 61 card points to win. A losing side with 30 card points or fewer is schneider; one that takes no trick is schwarz.

A game’s value, in points:

Laufende are the top trumps held in an unbroken run by one side, counted from the highest. They add to the value once there are three, or two in a Wenz.

In a Rufer, each loser pays the value to one of the winners. In a Solo or Wenz, the declarer collects the value from each defender, or pays it to each. A running score is kept across hands.

Attribution

Traditional Bavarian card game. Rules written from Pagat.com, Bavarian Schafkopf (Paul Eaton and John McLeod, © 2023), which is the source for the auction, calling the Ace, running away, the trumps, and the tariff given here in points rather than cents.