What are the Jass following suit rules?

What does following suit mean in Jass?

Following suit means playing a card from the suit led to the trick. Jass calls the obligation Farbzwang, or the requirement to follow suit. If you hold a card of the led suit, you must play that suit. You may not choose a different plain suit or a trump simply because the alternative card is stronger.

A Jass deal has four players in two fixed teams, with partners sitting opposite each other. Cards are dealt three at a time, and play runs counter-clockwise. The forehand is the player to the dealer’s right. The forehand chooses the contract and leads the first trick, or passes the choice to the partner through Schieber, the pass-on decision. The partner must then choose and may not pass the choice back. The dealer rotates each round.

The contract determines whether the hand uses a trump suit, Obenabe or Undenufe. Obenabe is the no-trump contract with the ordinary order in each suit. Undenufe is the no-trump contract with the whole order reversed.

Suppose hearts are trump. A player leads a plain spade. You hold a spade and the Puur of hearts. The Puur is the Under of the trump suit and the strongest trump, but Farbzwang still requires you to play the spade. You cannot trump while a spade remains in your hand.

If you hold no spade, the obligation to follow spades disappears. In a trump contract, you may then play a trump or another legal card, subject to the cards already in the trick. In Obenabe and Undenufe, you may play another suit because neither contract has a trump suit.

Obenabe uses A, K, O, U, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 from strongest to weakest. Undenufe uses 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, U, O, K, A. The card values page gives the complete comparison. Farbzwang decides which suit you may play; the contract decides how cards in that suit compare.

Can you trump instead of following suit in Jass?

You may trump instead of following only when your hand contains no card of the suit led. Farbzwang comes first, so holding even one card of the led suit removes the option to play a trump. A strong trump does not override the duty to follow.

Suppose diamonds are trump. A player leads clubs. You hold the 6 of clubs, the Puur of diamonds and a heart. You must play the 6 of clubs. The Puur cannot replace the club. If you hold no club, you may play the Puur, another diamond or the heart, provided the trick does not impose a stronger trumping requirement.

A player who cannot follow may choose a trump even when another legal card is available. A player may also discard a card from another plain suit. The choice affects the possible winner, so inspect both the contract and the cards already played before selecting a card.

Consider a club lead in a hearts-trump contract. You hold no club, the 10 of hearts and the 6 of spades. If no trump has entered the trick, either card may be legal. The 10 of hearts can take the trick if no later player uses a stronger heart, while the 6 of spades cannot win against a heart. A legal discard is not automatically a useful discard.

A no-trump contract removes the trumping option altogether. In Obenabe and Undenufe, a player who cannot follow may play another suit, but no card gains trump status. A high card from another suit cannot beat a card from the led suit.

The contract rules explain how the forehand’s choice sets the conditions for the hand. At the table, use a fixed sequence:

• Name the contract.
• Identify the suit led.
• Check whether your hand contains that suit.
• If not, check whether a trump is already in the trick.
• Choose a trump or discard only after those checks.

That sequence keeps the right to trump separate from the strength of the card you want to play.

What happens when a trump is already in the trick?

A player who cannot follow the led suit must beat the highest trump already in the trick when a higher legal trump is available. Jass calls that play overtrumping. A player may not undertrump, meaning play a lower trump, merely to get rid of it while a higher legal trump is held.

Suppose hearts are trump. A club is led, and a player without clubs plays the 8 of hearts. You have no club and hold the 10 of hearts and the 6 of hearts. The 10 of hearts ranks above the 8 in the trump order, so you must play the 10. The 6 is an undertrump and is not legal while the 10 is available.

The same rule applies when the lead itself is trump. A player leads the 9 of hearts, the Nell, which is the second-strongest trump. You hold the A of hearts and the 6 of hearts. Because you can follow hearts and the A ranks below the Nell, the A cannot beat the lead. You must still play a heart because Farbzwang applies to the trump suit as the led suit.

Suppose instead that you hold the Puur of hearts and the 6 of hearts. The Puur ranks above the Nell, but the Puur exemption means that you are never forced to play the Puur. The exemption protects the Puur from compulsory use. It does not make a lower trump an overtrump, and it does not permit a plain-suit discard when the led suit must be followed.

Trump strength differs from plain-suit strength. The trump order, strongest first, is U, 9, A, K, O, 10, 8, 7, 6. The Under is called the Puur, and the 9 is called the Nell. The Puur therefore outranks the Nell, while the 10 outranks the 8, 7 and 6.

When no higher trump is available, a lower trump may be legal if you cannot follow the led suit. For example, a spade is led, the 10 of diamonds is played as trump, and you hold no spade. If your diamonds are only the 8 and 6, either lower trump can be played because neither can beat the 10.

The tool for checking a trick lets you test the position card by card. The ruling always follows the same order: follow suit where required, compare trumps when trumping is allowed, and apply the Puur exemption separately.

When may you undertrump in Jass?

You may undertrump only when you cannot follow the led suit and hold no trump that beats the highest trump already in the trick. A lower trump is not legal when a higher non-Puur trump in your hand can overtake the current highest trump. The Puur is treated separately because the Puur is never compulsory.

Consider diamonds as trump. A spade is led, and a player who cannot follow spades plays the 10 of diamonds. You have no spade and hold the 8 and 6 of diamonds. Neither card beats the 10. You may play the 8 or the 6 because your hand contains no trump that can overtake the 10.

The result does not change if your hand contains the 7 as well. The 7, 8 and 6 all rank below the 10 in the trump order. You may choose among those lower trumps, or choose another legal card if the contract and the trick permit one.

Now add the Nell of diamonds. The Nell is the 9 of diamonds, and the trump order places it above the A, K, O, 10, 8, 7 and 6. The Nell can beat the 10, so you must play the Nell rather than the 8, 7 or 6. Keeping the Nell while playing a weaker trump would be an illegal undertrump.

Now replace the Nell with the Puur. The Puur can also beat the 10, but the Puur exemption means that you are not forced to play it. You may decline the Puur and play another legal card. If the trick was led with a plain suit and another legal card is available, that card may be a discard. If the trick was led with trump, you must still follow trump, so the Puur may be the only legal card.

A disputed trick can be resolved with four checks:

• Check whether you can follow the led suit.
• If you cannot, identify the highest trump already played.
• Look for a higher trump in your hand, but do not treat the Puur as compulsory.
• If no compulsory higher trump exists, decide whether a lower trump or another card is legal.

The distinction matters. A player who has no winning trump may undertrump. A player who has the Nell, A, K, O or another higher trump must use the available higher trump. A player who has only the Puur may keep it under the Puur exemption, subject to Farbzwang.

Do you have to play the Puur in a trump trick?

No. The Puur is never compulsory. The Puur is the Under of the trump suit and the strongest card in the trump order, but its special exemption means that you may keep it even when it would be the only trump able to beat the highest trump already played.

Suppose clubs are trump. A heart is led, and another player who cannot follow hearts plays the 9 of clubs, the Nell. You hold no hearts and have the Puur of clubs plus a plain card from another suit. The Puur would beat the Nell, but you are not forced to play it. You may use the other legal card instead.

Suppose you hold the Puur and the 10 of clubs, with no heart. The 10 cannot beat the Nell, while the Puur can. The Puur exemption still allows you to avoid the Puur. The 10 does not become a winning overtrump; you may play it only if the ordinary suit and trick rules make that card legal.

The Puur exemption does not cancel Farbzwang. A player who holds the led plain suit must play that suit, even if the hand also contains the Puur. A player who cannot follow a plain lead may decline the Puur and choose another legal card. A player who faces a trump lead must follow trump when holding trump, so a Puur may become the only legal card even though the player is not forced to use the Puur as an overtrump.

For example, clubs are trump and the 10 of clubs is led. You hold the Puur of clubs but no other club. You cannot answer with a heart merely because the Puur is exempt from compulsory use. The led suit is trump, and Farbzwang requires a club. The Puur is therefore the legal play.

The Puur differs from every other trump in both rank and treatment. The trump order is U, 9, A, K, O, 10, 8, 7, 6. The Puur stands above the Nell, the A, K, O, 10, 8, 7 and 6, yet a player may preserve it when the rule would otherwise demand an overtrump.

A clear ruling asks two separate questions. Must the player follow the led suit? If yes, the Puur cannot be used to escape that duty. If no, does the player have another legal card after declining the Puur? If yes, that card may be played, provided no other rule requires a stronger non-Puur trump.

How do following suit rules work in Obenabe and Undenufe?

Obenabe and Undenufe are no-trump contracts, so neither permits trumping. You must follow the suit led whenever possible. If you cannot follow, you may play a card from another suit, and only the led suit can win the trick.

Obenabe uses the ordinary suit order: A, K, O, U, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. Suppose a player leads clubs. You hold the 6 of clubs and the A of hearts. Farbzwang requires the 6 of clubs. The A of hearts cannot replace a club, although the A is stronger than the 6 in Obenabe.

If you hold no club, you may play the A of hearts or another card from your hand. The A of hearts does not become a trump and cannot win the trick against a club. A later club can beat every card from another suit, because the contract has no trump suit.

Undenufe reverses the entire ladder. Its order is 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, U, O, K, A. Suppose diamonds are led and you hold the 6 and the A of diamonds. Farbzwang requires a diamond, and the 6 is stronger than the A in Undenufe. The A is not automatically the best card simply because the A is strongest in Obenabe and in plain suits.

If you hold no diamond in Undenufe, you may play another suit. You may not call that play a trump, because Undenufe has no trump suit. The same principle applies to every suit: a card from another suit may be discarded, but it cannot take the trick.

The contract changes both the ranking and the response available when you lack the led suit. In a trump contract, the player may normally trump after failing to follow. In Obenabe and Undenufe, the player may only discard from another suit. The beginner mistakes guide covers the common error of carrying trump rules into a no-trump contract.

A sound ruling names the contract first, then the led suit, then the cards held by the disputed player. In Obenabe, compare cards with A, K, O, U, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. In Undenufe, compare them with 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, U, O, K, A. In both contracts, apply Farbzwang before judging strength.