What is the Stöck Jass rule?

What does Stöck mean in Jass?

Stöck is the combination of the king and Ober of the trump suit in one hand. It is worth 20 points for the team holding those cards. The team receives the score even if the other team holds the best Weis.

The pair must belong to the suit selected as trump for the round. A king and Ober from another suit do not form Stöck. Both cards must also be in the same hand. If partners hold one card each, their team does not have Stöck.

Stöck is a separate scoring item. It is not a sequence, a four of a kind or a trick-card value. The card values determine the points carried by cards in tricks, while Stöck records the special combination of the trump king and Ober. Do not add 20 points to either card when that card wins a trick.

The combination belongs to the team that holds it. The team does not need to win the best Weis to receive Stöck, and the best Weis does not transfer Stöck to the other side. The two entries remain separate when the round is scored.

Stöck exists only when the round has a trump suit. It does not exist in Obenabe, the contract in which the ordinary card order applies without a trump suit. It also does not exist in Undenufe, the contract in which the ordinary order is inverted without a trump suit. A hand can contain a king and Ober in either contract, but those cards cannot make Stöck.

A practical example makes the distinction clear. Suppose hearts are trump and one player holds the heart king and heart Ober. That player has Stöck. If the same player holds the king and Ober of clubs while hearts are trump, the player has no Stöck. If the heart king is in one hand and the heart Ober is in that player’s partner’s hand, the team also has no Stöck.

The contract chosen through a Schieber determines whether a trump suit exists. Check the contract before looking for the pair. In a trump round, inspect each hand for the trump king and Ober. In Obenabe or Undenufe, leave Stöck out of the score entirely.

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When do you declare Stöck?

Declare Stöck as you play the second of the trump king and Ober. Do not declare it when you play the first card. The announcement must be made before the next player has covered the second card.

The order of the pair does not matter. If you play the trump king first, declare Stöck when you play the trump Ober. If you play the trump Ober first, declare Stöck when you play the trump king. The second card is the moment that matters.

For example, a player holds the trump king and Ober. The player leads the trump king and says nothing about Stöck. Later, the player plays the trump Ober and announces Stöck immediately. That is the correct timing. If the player announces Stöck on the first card, the announcement is too early.

The next player’s action sets the limit. If that player has already covered the second Stöck card before the holder speaks, the 20 points are lost. The holder cannot wait until the trick is complete, until the next trick begins or until the score is written. A later announcement does not repair the missed timing.

The declaration is made by the player who holds both cards. Partners may not remind each other. A partner must not name the pair, ask whether the holder has Stöck or prompt the holder to speak. The holder must recognise the combination and declare it without assistance.

Stöck is also separate from the first-trick Weis announcement. On the first trick, each player states only the value of that player’s best meld while playing the card. Stöck is not included in that announcement. It is declared later, at the play of the second card in the trump pair.

Use this sequence at the table:

• Identify the trump suit.
• Check whether the same hand contains its king and Ober.
• Play the first of those cards without declaring Stöck.
• Declare Stöck while playing the second card.
• Speak before the next player covers that card.

The declaration should be immediate and unambiguous. A player who has the pair does not need to wait for the other team’s Weis value, for the second trick or for the end of the round. The correct declaration happens during the play of the second card.

Does the best Weis affect who receives Stöck?

The best Weis does not affect ownership of Stöck. The team holding the trump king and Ober receives the 20 points when the combination is declared correctly, regardless of the Weis comparison. A stronger meld for the opposing team does not cancel or transfer Stöck.

Weis means the melds announced on the first trick. Each player states only the value of that player’s best meld, in turn as the player plays the card. The team that turns out to hold the single best Weis shows the actual cards on the second trick, and only then are the points certain.

Only the team with the single best Weis writes anything for the melds. It writes both partners’ melds together. The other team writes nothing for Weis, even if it showed a meld. This comparison decides which team receives the Weis score, but it does not decide which team receives Stöck.

Consider a round in which one team has the best sequence and the other team holds the trump king and Ober. The first team writes the winning Weis. The second team receives 20 points for correctly declared Stöck. Each entry keeps its own owner.

The comparison rules for Weis also remain separate from Stöck. Weis is compared by points, then by the number of cards, then by the highest card in the meld, then by a meld in the trump suit, and then by seat position relative to the forehand. Weis always counts in natural order from six to ace, including in Undenufe, where trick order is inverted. None of those comparison steps can make a valid Stöck belong to the other team.

A card may belong to a sequence and a four of a kind at the same time. That rule concerns the melds. It does not turn a king and Ober into Stöck unless they are the trump pair in the same hand. The contracts page can provide the surrounding contract rules, but the Stöck declaration still follows its own timing.

Keep the scoring questions distinct:

• Which team has the single best Weis?
• Which team holds and declares Stöck?
• Which team wins the tricks and their card points?

Those answers can differ. A team can write Stöck while the other team writes Weis. The trick winner is determined separately by the contract and the cards played.

How is Stöck counted with the round score?

Stöck is added as its own 20-point scoring item for the team that declared it correctly. The round contains 152 card points in the pack, and the last trick adds 5 points, giving 157 points before the all-tricks bonus. A team that wins all 9 tricks receives an additional 100 points, giving 257 points for the round before any Stöck score is included.

The card points come from the tricks, not from Stöck. The last-trick bonus is also separate. If one team wins all 9 tricks, the 100-point match bonus is separate again. Stöck adds 20 points because the team holds the trump king and Ober in one hand and declares the combination at the correct moment.

For example, a team can receive the score for Stöck while the opposing team takes the majority of the card points. The team with Stöck does not need to win a particular trick, and the team winning the last trick does not automatically receive Stöck. Each score follows its own rule.

When a round takes a team past its target, count the written blocks in this order: Weis first, Stöck second, tricks third. This order decides which team crosses first when both teams are close to the target. It does not change the value of Stöck or transfer the combination between teams.

Suppose a team is close to its target and the round produces a Weis score, a correctly declared Stöck and trick points. Count the Weis block first. Count the Stöck block next. Count the trick score after that. If the team crosses the target in the earlier block, that earlier crossing decides the result under the stated rule.

The available practice targets are 1000, 1500, 2500 and 3000. The app offers 1000 and 2500. The target does not alter the value of Stöck. It only sets the point at which the match ends. Stöck remains a 20-point entry, and the order Weis, Stöck, tricks remains relevant when a team crosses a target during scoring.

Do not fold Stöck into the card total when explaining the round. The pack has 152 card points, the last trick adds 5, and an all-tricks result adds 100. Stöck is a separate declared combination. That separation makes it possible for Weis, Stöck and tricks to belong to different teams in the same round.

What happens when a player forgets to declare Stöck?

A player who fails to declare Stöck before the next player covers the second card loses the 20 points. The pair remains in the hand, but the score cannot be claimed later. The holder must make the declaration at the correct moment during play.

The same result applies if the player waits until the trick has ended. Saying Stöck after the next player has covered the card is too late. Saying it when the score is being written is also too late. The rule gives one precise moment: the play of the second card in the trump king and Ober.

A partner cannot rescue a missed declaration. Partners may not remind each other, ask about a possible Stöck or point out that the second card is being played. If the holder stays silent and the next player covers the card, the 20 points are lost without a partner’s prompt.

A player can avoid the mistake by preparing before the trick begins. Confirm the trump suit, identify whether the same hand holds the trump king and Ober, and remember which of those cards appears first. Preparation does not replace the spoken declaration. The holder still has to say Stöck while playing the second card.

The following examples separate the common errors:

• The holder plays the first card and declares Stöck. The declaration is too early.
• The holder plays the second card and declares Stöck before the next player plays. The timing is correct.
• The holder plays the second card, the next player covers it, and the holder then declares Stöck. The 20 points are lost.
• The holder says nothing, and a partner calls out Stöck before the next player covers the card. Partners may not prompt each other, so the partner’s reminder is not permitted.
• The holder has the king and Ober of a non-trump suit. No Stöck exists.
• The round is Obenabe or Undenufe. No Stöck exists because there is no trump suit.

A correct declaration protects the team’s ownership of the score, even if the other team has the best Weis. The team still counts the score in the Stöck block, after Weis and before tricks when a target crossing is decided. The declaration rule, the Weis comparison and the trick score remain separate parts of the round.