German Schafkopf

German Schafkopf () is an old German card game and the forerunner of the popular modern games of Skat, Doppelkopf and Bavarian Schafkopf.
Today it is hardly ever played in its original form, but there are a number of regional derivations.
History.
Schafkopf dates to the 18th century or earlier and is the oldest member of the Schafkopf family. A 1783 novel describes the scene after a wedding dinner as the dining tables were cleared away and replaced by games tables: "here stood an Ombre table, there a noble Schafkopf was played, over there a game of forfeits, soon everybody was busy playing when suddenly the sound of the strings announced the arrival of the dance band..." In 1796, we learn that students at Leipzig University liked to repair to disreputable bars to play Solo or Schafkopf for a couple of Dreiers.
In 1811, it is described as "a cute little game [played] with chalk and collection bag pennies". and its rules are recorded for the first time. In 1853, these rules are reproduced by Von Alvensleben who describes 'Schaafkopf' as being very common, especially with the lower classes perhaps due to its ordinary name ("sheep's head"), but that it also went under the "more noble" names of Society ("Societätsspiel"), Conversation ("Conversationsspiel") or Denunciation ("Denunciationsspiel"). He hypothesises that the name comes from the practice of drawing the lines denoting points scored in the form of a stylised sheep's head. He goes on to describe in detail no less than nine variants of 'Schaafkopf' (in addition to Wendish Schafkopf), but states clearly that the original one was a four-hand, point-trick, team game with 4 Unters as top trumps, known as Wenzels (pronounced "Ventsels") and a trump suit nominated by the bid winner. The game was normally played for beer. Other variants for four, six or eight players variously use six Wenzels (two Obers and four Unters) or eight Wenzels (four Obers and four Unters). Some use Bells as the permanent trump suit and at least one is a plain-trick game, otherwise they are Ace-Ten games with the Tens ranking low. The variants (with von Alversleben's lettering in brackets) are shown in brief below. Except where indicated, they are played by teams of two, in fixed partnerships, with 32 cards and variable trump suits, and are point-trick games:
No. 3 has the same configuration as modern Bavarian Schafkopf, although the latter has Hearts as permanent trumps in the 'normal game', alliances rather than partnerships and various solo contracts. Modern Wendish Schafkopf resembles no. 5 but has eight Wenzels; likewise Doppelkopf looks like an evolution of no. 7 taking it from 12 to 16 Wenzels and adding 2 x 10s, which are the highest cards in the double pack.
John McLeod notes that many German game books include rules for German Schafkopf based on the original, but he is not aware of anywhere that it is still played. However his research has uncovered two descendants of the game lingering on in the Palatinate region of western Germany. One is Bauernstoss which is played in Erfweiler and the other is Alter Schoofkopp played in Niederhochstadt, around 30 kilometres to the east.
The Palatinate is also home to Bauerchen or Bauersches, a four-player, partnership game in which the four Jacks are top trumps in the usual Skat/Schafkopf order. It is played with a short pack (20 cards), forehand calls trumps and leads to the first trick. Melds for a King-Queen pair earn extra points.
Another game which appears to be a cross between German Schafkopf German Solo is the north German game of Scharwenzel, played by four or six players in fixed partnerships with four Wenzels but also the Q, trump 7 and as top trumps. It is a plain trick game in which players bid the number of potential trumps they have.
Rules.
The following rules appear to be based on Grupp (1994) and resemble those of the original Schafkopf game, i.e. von Alversleben's Type A above.
Cards.
Players and cards.
German Schafkopf is played with 4 players and 32 cards which, depending on the region, may be German or French packs. The players form 2 permanent partnerships.
Card ranking.
The ranking of cards within the individual suits is as follows (highest to lowest):
Ace (Deuce) &gt; King &gt; Queen (Ober) &gt; 10 &gt; 9 &gt; 8 &gt; 7
The hierarchy of the cards and their sequence within the trumps are similar to those in Bavarian Schafkopf and Skat. However, in German Schafkopf the 10 ranks between the Queen or Ober and 9, in all suits even though it is worth ten points.
Trumps.
As in Skat, the highest trumps are the 4 "Jacks" or "Unters" in the sequence "Clubs", "Spades", "Hearts" and "Diamonds" or "Acorns", "Leaves", "Hearts" and "Bells". The remaining trumps are specified by the player who is the declarer by naming the trump suit at the outset. The cards of the trump suit then follow in the aforementioned sequence (see above).
Partnerships.
German Schafkopf is a partnership card game, but unlike Bavarian Schafkopf or Doppelkopf partners are not announced during the course of the game, but are permanent as in Bridge: the players facing one another are automatically partners. The seating order is determined by the drawing of playing cards before the game begins: the players who have picked the two highest cards are partners and sit opposite one another. In another variation, the players with the two black queens (or Ober of Acorns and Ober of Leaves) form a partnership (see below).
Rules.
Dealing.
After the cards have been shuffled and cut, each player is dealt a total of eight playing cards (in two sets of four) in clockwise fashion.
Declarations.
After the deal, starting clockwise each player announces the maximum possible number of trumps in their hand by adding the jacks and the longest suit ("I declare x trumps").
The player with the highest number of possible trumps takes the lead in the game and names the trump suit.
If two players announce the same number of possible trumps, then the one with the higher number of trump points wins ("I declare x trumps with y points"); if this number is also the same, the higher trump wins (usually the higher jack).
Forced game.
If none of the players can declare at least five trumps, the player with the Jack of Clubs (Unter of Acorns) must take the lead; if he loses, it only counts as single (i.e. he doesn't lose double or quadruple) game points.
Solo games.
As in Bavarian Schafkopf and Doppelkopf, solo games are also possible in German Schafkopf. Here, a solo player plays against the other three players.
Play.
Players must follow suit. If a player cannot do so, any card may be played.
Scoring.
There are three types of games won:
In a forced game, however, a winner who did not choose trumps gets the same as one who did.
For each game point won, the winner draws a line on a sheet of paper. The game is won by the first player to complete draw nine dashes in the shape of a sheep's head, the "Schafkopf": four dashes arranged in a rectangle form the shape of the head, two dashes form the eyes, two more the horns and a single dash in the middle represents the nose. Presumably the losers buy the beer.
Variants.
The game described is the earliest form of German Schafkopf. Apart from Bavarian Schafkopf and the other early variants mentioned above, further variants have been developed, some in different regions. These include:
In an East German book of game rules there are the following variations of German Schafkopf which appear to reflect, in part, von Alversleben's variants:
Related games.
There are numerous European relatives of the family: