Pinochle Most books of post-1945 rules say that unless trump is led, there is no requirement to try to win the trick. It is only when trump is led that "heading" the trick is mandatory. In pinochle circles and tournaments the post-1945 rules are played about half of the time according to Pagat and Hoyle. If two identical cards are played, the first one outranks the second. After the first trick, the winner of each trick leads the first card for the next trick, until all the cards are played. Points are scored based on the tricks won in the hand.
International Skat Court Until 1978 the German Skat Court had a three-member panel; from 1978 to 1990 it had five members and from the Reunification of Germany in 1990, seven members. From 1963 to 1990, East Germany had the Altenburg Skat Court. Today the Internationale Skat Court has nine members of which seven are chosen from the German Skat Congress and two by ISPA. The president of the court from 2002 until 2014 was Peter Luczak. His successors is Hans Braun. In cases of dispute over the rules of Skat the participants may appeal to the Skat Court who, after hearing the case,