Schafkopf

Etymology

Schafkopf scoring system

There are various theories about the origin of the name Schafkopf, most of which come from traditional folklore. One suggestion is that Schafkopf acquired its name at a time when it was played for up to nine^[5][6] or twelve^[7] points which were marked with a piece of chalk as lines on a board, gradually forming the stylized appearance of a sheep's head (German: Schaf = sheep, Kopf = head).^[8] However, evidence of such notation is not found in the Bavarian context where it was invariably played for money.

Until the late 1960s, the alternative spelling Schaffkopf was not uncommon in Bavaria; the ensuing discussion about the supposedly only correct form and its origin was the subject of extensive debate at that time - among other things in the columns of the Bavarian press - before the common variant Schafkopf became widely accepted from about 1970. The issue was largely forgotten when author, Wolfgang Peschel, argued in the early 1990s for the double 'f' spelling based on the popular traditional view that, in earlier times, the game was supposed to have been played (geklopft) on the lids (Köpfen) of barrels (Upper German: Schaff, c.f. Schäffler/Scheffel).^[9][3][10] To this day, such casks are used as tables at beer stands and beer halls. Although this hypothesis is unanimously rejected by experts and there is no evidence for it in older sources, it is widespread on the Internet.

Another theory is that it comes from "Schaffen" and "Kopf", "to work one's brain."^[11]

Forerunner

The indirect precursors of the various games of the Schafkopf family (which include Doppelkopf and Skat), were the Spanish national game of L'Hombre (which had reached the Holy Roman Empire through the courtly circles of France in the late 17th century), its four-hand variant, Quadrille, and its simplified German derivative, German Solo. The distinction between variable and permanent trump cards as well as the selection of a contract by announcing and bidding, probably originate from these games.^[12]

The special feature of Bavarian Schafkopf, the selection of a playing partner by 'calling' a Sow (often misleadingly called an Ace as it is, in fact, a Deuce), was also usual in German Solo; the determination of the winning team by counting card points (Augen), instead of tricks, however, has another origin, perhaps in Bavarian Tarock or related games.

Emergence and development

Schafkopf-Büchlein, 1895

The origin and development of the game of Schafkopf - in comparison with Skat - are rather poorly documented. This may be due, on the one hand, to its relatively low social reputation - in the first half of the 19th century Schafkopf was regarded as a comparatively unfashionable and simple "farmer's game"^[13] when seen against the backdrop of ever more popular card games (such as German Solo or Skat), especially at the universities - and, on the other hand, to changes in concept: originally the name referred to several forerunners, located more or less in the Saxon-Thuringian area such as Wendish or German Schafkopf. In these older variants, the declarer's team was generally determined by a combination of the two highest trump cards, in a not dissimilar manner to the way the Queens of Clubs are used in Doppelkopf today, for example. The variants played in the Palatinate^[14] and in the USA (especially in Minnesota, c.f. Sheepshead) should be understood as further developments of this German Schafkopf. The assumption often heard in Bavaria that Skat and Doppelkopf developed from the Bavarian Schafkopf cannot be proven; a parallel development of all three games is more likely.

The game of Schafkopf is first recorded in a 1782 Saxon schedule of penalties, Drinking and Gaming on Workdays and Sundays (Zechen und Spielen an Werktagen und Sonntagen), typically with the remark that, unlike Hazard for example, it was not to be considered a game of chance in the legal sense and was thus permitted.^[15]

The specifically Bavarian variant of the game originated with the introduction of the Rufer or 'Call Ace' contract in the first half of the 19th century - apparently in Franconia. The first mention of a game of Schafkopf definitely played according to Bavarian rules (in Gräfenberg) dates to the year 1849;^[16] and while Schapfkopf playing in Franconia was already widespread in the 1840s,^[17] in the Bavarian Forest, Tarock (the Bavarian game, not the true Tarock game played in Austria) was more popular.^[18] The question about the origin of the Bavarian Schafkopf cannot be answered conclusively, but available sources suggest a migration from north to south.

The oldest written rules for Bavarian Schafkopf are found in Schafkopf-Büchlein - Detailliche Anleitung zum Lernen und Verbessern des Schafkopfspiel mit deutschen Karten, Amberg 1895;^[19] where the author explicitly explains the differences from Schafkopf variants played in northern Germany, i.e. Skat and Doppelkopf. The rules of the game were officially established by the Bavarian Schafkopf Society (Bayerischer Schafkopf-Verein e. V.) at the 1st Bavarian Schafkopf Congress on 17 December 1989 in Munich's Hofbräuhaus^[3] The society known as the Schafkopf School (Schafkopfschule e. V.) publishes a revised version on its website.^[4] The Schafkopf School has established itself as a kind of unofficial appeal authority for questions of rule interpretation.

Suits

German packs have four suits: Eichel (Acorns = Clubs), Gras (Leaves = Spades), Herz (Hearts) and Schellen (Bells = Diamonds).

Suits of the Bavarian pattern pack
Acorns (Eichel)	Leaves (Grün/Gras)	Hearts (Herz)	Bells (Schellen)

Card values

There are eight cards in each suit with different values: Sau (Sow), König (King), Ober (officer), Unter (sergeant), 10, 9, 8 and 7. The cards of any one suit have a collective value of 30 points; thus there are 120 points to be played for in the pack.

Nines, eights and sevens have a value of 0 points and are variously known as Spatzen ("sparrows"), Nichtser(le) ("nothings" or "nixers"), Leere ("blanks") or Luschen ("duds"). As mentioned above, eights and sevens are dropped from Schafkopf with short cards.

Normal contract: Rufspiel, Sauspiel or Partnerspiel

The normal contract: Rufspiel
Trumps
O O O O U U U U A 10 K 9 8 7
Suits
Acorns (Eichel)	Leaves (Gras)	Bells (Schellen)
A 10 K 9 8 7	A 10 K 9 8 7	A 10 K 9 8 7

In the Normal contract (Rufspiel; also: Sauspiel or Partnerspiel), the four Obers are the highest trumps - in the order (highest to lowest) Acorns (Eichel), Leaves (Gras (also: Blatt, Grün, Blau, Laub), Hearts (Herz) and Bells (Schellen). Next are the four Unters in the same suit order; then follow the remaining Hearts cards - in the order Sow, Ten, King, Nine, Eight, Seven - as lower trumps, making a total of 14 trump cards. All other cards are simply suit cards.

Two players play against the other two. The bidder announces a Rufspiel; if no other players bid a higher-value Solo contract, the declarer chooses his playing partner by "calling" any of the three suit Sows (i.e. the Sows of Acorns, Leaves or Bells) which he does not have in his hand. He must have at least one card in the same suit as the called Sow. The declarer and the owner of the called Sow then play together and form the declarer's team, the other two are the defenders team. The tricks won by the partners in each team are added together at the end of the hand.

Usually it only becomes clear during the game who has the called Sow, known as the Rufsau; initially only the player who has it knows. But the Sow can be 'searched for' by one of the other 3 players leading a card of the called suit to a trick; if this happens, the Sow must be played, even if the player holds another card of that suit. The Rufsau may not be discarded either. If a suit (or trump) is played in which the called player is void, he may not discard the Rufsau. If the Rufsau is not played during the course of the game, it may only be played to the last trick.

Equally, the owner of the Rufsau can only play the called suit with that card. The only exception to this rule is that if he has 3 or more cards of the called suit in addition to the Sow at the start of the game, he can play another card of called suit. Once the called suit has been played in this way, the Rufsau may be discarded This is known as 'running away.'

The solos: Suit Solo and Wenz

In all solo games, the soloist plays against the three other players. Solo games always rank above over Normal games. Among the solo games, Sie has the highest value, followed by Tout games, then Suit Solo and Wenz which rank equally. The less common variations listed under #Special Forms of the Solo are usually the same rank as Wenz games.

Suit Solo

Bell Solo
Trumps
O O O O U U U U A 10 K 9 8 7
Suits
Acorns	Leaves	Hearts
A 10 K 9 8 7	A 10 K 9 8 7	A 10 K 9 8 7

Heart Solo
Trumps
O O O O U U U U A 10 K 9 8 7
Suits
Acorns	Leaves	Bells
A 10 K 9 8 7	A 10 K 9 8 7	A 10 K 9 8 7

Leaf Solo
Trumps
O O O O U U U U A 10 K 9 8 7
Suits
Acorns	Hearts	Bells
A 10 K 9 8 7	A 10 K 9 8 7	A 10 K 9 8 7

Acorn Solo
Trumps
O O O O U U U U A 10 K 9 8 7
Suits
Leaves	Hearts	Bells
A 10 K 9 8 7	A 10 K 9 8 7	A 10 K 9 8 7

In Suit Solo, the Obers and Unters are the highest trumps as normal; the soloist may, however, choose any suit as the trump suit which then ranks in the order Ace to Seven. In the past, a Heart Solo was sometimes ranked higher that the other Suit Solos, but that is no longer common today.

Wenz

Wenz
Trumps
U U U U
Suits
Acorns	Leaves	Hearts	Bells
A 10 K O 9 8 7	A 10 K O 9 8 7	A 10 K O 9 8 7	A 10 K O 9 8 7

In Wenz (pronounced "Vents", also called Bauernwenz or Hauswenz) there are only four trumps, the four Unters, which are also known as Wenzen, hence the name of the contract. They rank in the usual order from highest to lowest: Acorns, Leaves, Hearts and Bells. The Obers are ranked in their suits between the King and the Nine. Hearts is just a normal suit.

Shuffling, cutting and dealing

The four players sit crosswise as the table. Before the game begins, the first dealer is determined, usually by drawing the highest card from the deck.

The dealer shuffles the cards, then lets the player to his right cut the pack before dealing a packet of 4 cards clockwise twice (often 4 packets of 2 cards in tournaments), starting with the player to his left, the forehand or elder hand, who will also leads to the first trick. The role of dealer rotates clockwise; four games make a 'round'.

When cutting, at least three cards must be lifted or left lying; taking this rule into account, the pack may be cut up to 3 times. In this case, the cutter may instruct the dealer to deal the cards differently - for example, "all eight" instead of 2 packets of 4, or "anti-clockwise", etc.

Auction

Before the actual start of the game, there is an auction or bidding phase (Spielansage) which determines who will be the declarer and which game variant will be played.

The first thing the player can do is either to announce a game by saying "I'll play" (Ich spiele) or to pass by saying "I'll pass" (Weiter/ich bin weg). After that, the right to bid passes to the next player in a clockwise direction, until finally the dealer gets a chance to bid.

Bidding sequence:
1: Forehand, leads to 1st trick
2: Middlehand
3: Rearhand, cuts the pack
4: Dealer, deals the cards clockwise

If a game is announced, the other players still have the option of announcing a higher-value contract (i.e. a Solo or Wenz etc.) by saying "I'll play too" (Ich spiele auch) thus taking over the game; the first player can rebid with a higher-value game, if he does he leads the bidding. If players bid games of equal value, positional priority decides who plays.

The ranking of individual games is shown in the adjacent table, games recognised in 'true' Schafskopf are in bold (* = classification regionally very different).

If no one declares a game

If no player announces their intent to play (all say "pass" or Weiter), there are several possibilities, which should be agreed upon before the start of play:

• The cards are thrown in, reshuffled and play continues with the next clockwise player dealing the cards.
• A Bock game or Bock round is played, whereby the value of the next hand is doubled (Bockspiel).
• The cards are thrown in, but each play puts a 'sweetener' (e.g. 10 euro cents) into the "pot" (Stock or Topf). The declarer in the next game now has the chance to win the pot. If they win their declared game, only the declaring player, and not the partner, receives the "pot" in addition to the normal winnings shared with the partner. If the player loses his declared game, then he alone must double the contents of the pot and play continues with the next player declaring a game having the chance to win (or double) the pot on the next hand.
• In tournament play, a hand must be played and either the player with the Ober of Acorns (known as der Alte, "the Old Man") must declare a game or cross-seated players automatically play the hand together.
• A Ramsch hand is played, the goal being to score as few points as possible with each player playing for him/herself.

Trick-taking

Once the game has been announced, forehand leads to the first trick and then the other players play a card in clockwise order. Once there are four cards on the table, the player who has won the trick (cards picks it up and places it face down in a pile on the table. The winner of the trick leads to the next trick and so on, until all 32 cards - 8 tricks - have been played.

Depending on the type of card played, a distinction is made between 'suit tricks' and 'trump tricks'. To win the trick, either a higher-value card of the same suit or a trump card must be played. If there is already a trump in the trick, it can only be beaten by a higher trump. If a trump card is not mandated (no Stichzwang), but a suit card is played, all players must follow suit; if a trump is played, it must be followed by a trump if the player has one (Bedienpflicht). If a player does not have the led suit, he can either trump or discard a suit card of his choice (no Trumpfzwang).

Failure to follow suit, criticising or verbally trying to influence the game generally results in the loss of the game.

If a trick is not yet completed (i.e. the cards are still face up on the table), each player has the right to view the previous trick on request.

Basic tariff

Schafkopf is not counted as a game of chance in the legal sense by the relevant section of the act, § 284 StGB, and may therefore be played in Germany for money. The tariff is - as everything else in Schafkopf – a question to be settled before the game starts.

Normally a basic rate is agreed, which forms the basis for all further calculations (Schneider/Schwarz, matadors). A special rate applies to Solo, which does not necessarily have to be based on the basic rate, but rather on the most convenient calculation and coin size. For example, if 5 cents is the basic tariff and the Solo tariff is 20 cents, the latter is called the 5/20. In games played purely for fun, the most common rates are 5/20, 10/20 and 10/50, with no upper limits. In addition, a rate is often agreed between the basic rate and the Solo rate (e.g. 10/20/50).

Double and multiple tariffs

A whole series of card combinations may be rewarded with a doubling or multiplication of the basic tariff in Schafkopf; this is then calculated including schneider/schwarz and matadors.

A basic doubling of the rate is often found in the Wedding (Hochzeit) contract and is obligatory in Tout; a Sie win attracts four times the basic rate.

After the players receive the first hand of cards (four cards) and before they take the second hand they can double the value of the game either by knocking on the table or calling "doppeln" (to double). Normally a specific token (e.g. match box, special coin) is then placed on the table to indicate this. Depending on the exact local rules only the first, only one or all players can double the game. If more than one player doubles the game the factors get multiplied, i.e. one player 2x, two players 2*2=4x, three players 8x and four players 16x. These factors take effect after all other bonuses are added. In the case of Tout the game cost (again) double but no Schneider or Schwarz bonus is paid. The value of the game can be doubled further by Contra.

Stock

A sweetener (Stock, Pott, Henn, etc.) is paid following games where the cards are thrown in. With prior agreement, the declarer's team may claim the Stock if they win the game; if they lose it however, they must double the contents of the Stock.

In Schafkopf tournaments there is usually a special variant of the Stock called the Reuegeld.

Special forms of partner game

Special forms of Solo

These games, too, are generally only of regional significance, as a result only the most common are described here.

Geier

Geier
Trumps
O O O O
Suits
Acorns	Leaves	Hearts	Bells
A 10 K U 9 8 7	A 10 K U 9 8 7	A 10 K U 9 8 7	A 10 K U 9 8 7

Geier is a derivative of Wenz, in which only the Obers act as trumps. Similarly there are variants in which another card is given the function of the Unters in Wenz. In König (Keni, Krone, Habicht, King, Bart) it is the Kings in Eisenbahner, the Tens.

Suit Wenz

Example: Bells Wenz
Trumps
U U U U A 10 K O 9 8 7
Suits
Acorns	Leaves	Hearts
A 10 K O 9 8 7	A 10 K O 9 8 7	A 10 K O 9 8 7

Suit Wenz (Farbwenz) is a cross between Wenz and Suit Solo in which, in addition to the Unters as the highest trumps, a trump suit is also chosen. The Obers are part of their suits which gives eleven trumps. Here too, there are variations in which another card takes on the function of the Unters in Suit Wenz; in Suit Geier (Farbgeier), for example, it is the Obers.

Bettel (Null)

Bettel
Suits
Acorns	Leaves	Hearts	Bells
A K O U 10 9 8 7	A K O U 10 9 8 7	A K O U 10 9 8 7	A K O U 10 9 8 7

Bettel is a classic negative contract, i. e. where the soloist undertakes not to take a single trick. Therer are no trumps; the card ranking is – unlike other contracts – (highest to lowest) Ace/Sow, King, Ober, Unter, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven. In many regions it can be played 'ouvert' (Bettel Ouvert or Bettel Brett).

Related to Bettel is Ramsch Tout or Pfd; where the soloist aims to take no tricks again, but this time there are trumps (Obers, Unters and Hearts).

Sometimes hybrids are also played, where the Obers and Unters are trumps, but there is no trump suit.

Ramsch

Ramsch is a variation of the game played if no-one has bid (often the 'last man' has the option of announcing Ramsch if the players bidding before him have all passed). In contrast with the other contracts, everyone plays against everyone else, i.e. each for himself. The same trump cards apply as for Rufspiel, but the aim is to score as few card points as possible. The player with the most points loses and pays all the other players.

If two or more players score the same number of points, the one with the most tricks loses. If the number of tricks is also equal, the player with the most trumps in the tricks loses; if that number is also equal, the player with the higher trump loses. Special rules adapted from Skat are the Durchmarsch or Mord, which correspond to a "sweep" or "slam", i.e. one player takes all the tricks to wins the game, and Jungfrau ("maiden") (i.e. one or two players do not make a trick, the loser pays twice or four times).

A variation of Ramsch is Schieberamsch, a special local variant, where the tricks are passed on clockwise at the end of the game, and where the player who has the least points at the end also wins.

Special rounds

Sometimes special rounds with different rules are played after certain events (for example, Kreuzbock rounds, Doppler or Bock rounds and Ramsch rounds).

Variants for different numbers of players

If there are more or fewer than four players, the following variants may be played:

• Five-hand Schafkopf (Schafkopf zu fünft): as per the normal Schafkopf game, but the dealer sits out.
• Three-hand Schafkopf (Schafkopf zu dritt): if there are only 3 players, the game is played with the short deck. Each player is dealt 8 cards. In this variant, which is not permitted in tournaments, only Solo or Wenz are played
• Two-hand Schafkopf (Schafkopf zu zweit): also called Open Schafkopf (Aufgelegter Schafkopf), Farmer's Schafkopf (Bauernschafkopf) or Officers' Schafkopf (Offiziersschafkopf), a Schafkopf-like game with very divergent rules c.f. Officers' Skat and Two-Player Wendish Schafkopf.

Records

Until 2006, the Guinness Book of Records recognized card game records only if they were based on a French deck of 52 cards. Only after the intervention of Bavarian broadcasters, Bayerischer Rundfunk, was this rule relaxed and Schafkopf was recognized in this category; since then the record for continuous playing is held exclusively by Schafkopf groups (for medical reasons the Guinness rules allow two substitutes). The officially recognized record playing time is currently 260 hours, placed in November 2013 by one Munich group.^[27]