German Schafkopf

Schafkopf dates to the 18th century or earlier and is the oldest member of the Schafkopf family.[1] 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..."[2] 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.[3] In 1811, it is described as "a cute little game [played] with chalk and collection bag pennies".[4] and its rules are recorded for the first time.[5] 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).[lower-alpha 1] 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 Alvensleben'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:[6]

1. Four players, four Wenzels (A) – Urschafkopf or Ur-Schafkopf[lower-alpha 2]
2. Four players, six Wenzels (C)
3. Four players, eight Wenzels (D)
4. Four players, four Wenzels, Bells, no teams, plain-trick (B) – Schellen-Schafkopf[lower-alpha 3]
5. Four players, six Wenzels, Bells (E)
6. Six players, six Wenzels, Bells, 36 cards (F)
7. Four players, twelve Wenzels, Bells, 2 x 24 cards (G)
8. Six players, twelve Wenzels, Bells, 2 x 24 cards (H)
9. Eight players, sixteen Wenzels, Bells, 2 x 32 cards (I)

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.

The following rules appear to be based on Grupp (1994) and resemble those of the original Schafkopf game, i.e. von Alvensleben's Type A above.[9]

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.[10]

Suits of the French suited cards
Diamonds (Karo)	Hearts (Herz)	Spades (Pik)	Clubs (Kreuz)
Suits of the German suited cards
Bells (Schellen)	Hearts (Herz)	Leaves (Laub)	Acorns (Eichel)

Trumps

German deck
Permanent trumps
U U U U
Additional variable trump suits
Acorns	Leaves	Hearts	Bells
A K O 10 9 8 7	A K O 10 9 8 7	A K O 10 9 8 7	A K O 10 9 8 7
French pack
Permanent trumps
J J J J
Additional variable trump suits
Clubs	Spades	Hearts	Diamonds
A K Q 10 9 8 7	A K Q 10 9 8 7	A K Q 10 9 8 7	A K Q 10 9 8 7

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).

Scoring

Example of a completed "sheep's head" used for scoring

There are three types of games won:

• Straight win (61 to 89 points scored): if the winner chose trumps he gets one game point, otherwise he gets two
• Schneider win (more than 90 points scored): if the winner chose trumps he gets two game points, otherwise four
• Schwarz win (opponents have no tricks): the winner gets nine game points, regardless of who chose trumps (nine dashes correspond to a whole sheep's head).

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.

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:

• Blattla, no Wenzels, Hearts as permanent trumps
• Bierkopf, a Franconian variant of modern Schafkopf with fixed teams and no solos
• Mucken, another Franconian variant with different contracts
• Bauernstoß, which is played in the Palatine region of Erfweiler.[11]
• Alte Schoofkopp, played in Niederhochstadt, another village in the Palatinate.[12]

In an East German book of game rules[13] there are the following variations of German Schafkopf which appear to reflect, in part, von Alvensleben's variants:

1. Classic Schafkopf: as described, Jacks/Wenzel are always trumps, the player with the so-called 'old man', the Jack of Clubs or the Unter of Acorns, must choose trumps if all pass or cannot bid more than 5 trumps.
2. Schafkopf with six (eight) Wenzeln and changing trumps: Queen of Clubs (Ober of Acorns) and Queen of Spades (Ober of Leaves) (and Queen of Hearts (Ober of Hearts) and Queen of Diamonds (Ober of Bells)) are declared as trumps and outrank the old man. The player with the old man calls trumps, if this has not been decided beforehand by the bidding process.
3. Schafkopf with four (six, eight) Wenzels and remaining trumps: Jacks/Wenzel (plus the 2 highest Queens/Obers or all 4) and Diamonds/Bells are always trumps.

There are numerous European relatives of the family:

• Kop is a Polish game is played with just 16 cards, with four per player by excluding all but the Ace, 10s, Queens, and Jacks.[14]
• Sjavs is popular in the Faroe Islands where it is played with 32 cards.[15]
• Scharwenzel is an old German game, possibly ancestral to German Schafkopf. It is now only played on the island of Fehmarn and, as Skærvindsel, in Denmark.

• Officers' Schafkopf

• _ (1988). Spielregelbüchlein mit Skatordnung. p. 177, 8th edn., Spielkartenfabrik Altenburg.
• Bruckmann, Karl (1811). Karl Bruckmann oder William Sterne, Findling des Harzgebirges und Bewohner einer einsamen Insel der Südsee. Vol. 2. Zittau and Leipzig: J.D. Schöps.
• Danyliuk, Rita (2008). 1 × 1 der Kartenspiele - Bridge, Skat und Schafkopf. Glücks- und Familienspiele. Patiencen, Kartentricks u.v.m. Humboldt, Baden-Baden, ISBN 978-3-89994-188-3
• Danyliuk, Rita (2008). Das große Taschenbuch der Freizeitspiele: Spiele für unterwegs und Schönwettertage, Munich: Humboldt, pp. 149-151.
• Grupp, Claus D. (1997). Doppelkopf, Schafkopf, Tarock (Original ed.). Niedernhausen/Ts.: Falken. ISBN 3-635-60223-X.
• Hammer, Paul (1811). Taschenbuch der Kartenspiele. Leipzig: Weygandschen Buchhandlung.
• McLeod, John (1978). "Rules of Games: No. 8. Schafkopf" in The Journal of the Playing-Card Society, Vol. VII, No. 2. pp. 38-47. ISSN 0305-2133.
• von Alvensleben, Ludwig (1853). Encyclopädie der Spiele. Leipzig: Otto Wigand.

• Bauernstoss at www.pagat.com.