How to choose trump in Jass

What should your hand contain before you choose trump?

Your hand should contain a reliable source of tricks before you choose trump. Look for control in one suit, useful cards beside that control and enough strength outside the suit to keep your side active. A high multiplier cannot compensate for a contract that leaves your strongest card unsupported.

The trump order is distinctive. The Under is called the Puur, and it is the strongest card in the trump suit. The nine is called the Nell, and it follows the Puur. The ace, king and Ober come next, while the trump ten sits below the Ober in trick strength. The complete ranking and card-point values appear on the card values page.

A trump suit with the Puur and useful supporting cards gives you a clear plan. The Puur can take control when another suit is led, and additional trumps give you more chances to lead or follow the suit. The Nell adds considerable strength, but it is safer when the Puur is also available or likely to be removed before the Nell must win.

A single attractive card rarely settles the decision. An isolated ace can win a trick, but it does not control the suit. An isolated Puur is powerful, yet a hand with no other route to tricks may still struggle after that card has been used. Compare the whole hand instead.

Check these points before naming a suit:

• Which suit contains your clearest winning card?
• Can that suit produce useful tricks after its strongest card has been played?
• Does the Puur or Nell have supporting trumps beside it?
• Do your plain-suit aces and tens offer entries when trump is not led?
• Can partner’s likely cards complete the plan?

Every contract puts exactly 152 card points in the pack. A trump suit contains 62 card points, while each plain suit during a trump contract contains 30. Those totals describe the available points; your choice determines how well your side can control them. The card values table helps you separate point value from trick-taking strength.

How do the Puur and Nell affect a trump decision?

The Puur and Nell deserve special weight because they sit above every other card in a trump suit. The Puur is the Under of the trump suit, and the Nell is the nine. A hand containing either card has a reason to consider that suit; a hand containing both has a much stronger starting point, provided the remaining cards create a workable plan.

The Puur is the highest trump. No other card in that suit can beat it. That makes the Puur a dependable way to take a trick, protect a lead or remove a dangerous opposing trump. Its value also depends on timing. Playing it too early may give opponents information or leave your side without later control, while holding it too long may prevent your partner from establishing a winning sequence.

The Nell is the second-highest trump. The Puur beats it, so a Nell without the Puur does not provide complete control. A bare Nell can still win after the Puur has been played, when the opposing Puur is known to be absent, or when the suit has been reduced. Treat the Nell as a major reason to inspect the suit, rather than as automatic proof that the suit should be named.

Supporting trumps make both cards more useful. The Puur with the Nell and further cards in the suit gives you authority and continuity. The Nell with an ace and additional trumps can also form a credible contract, especially if your side can force the Puur out before the Nell is required. Side-suit winners matter as well, because they provide leads when trump is not yet safe to play.

Use this order of judgement:

• Give the Puur the greatest weight.
• Treat the Nell as strong evidence, while checking where the Puur may be.
• Add the ace, king and Ober as supporting trump strength.
• Assess plain-suit winners before deciding that the trump plan is complete.
• Consider length as support, not as a substitute for control.

The Schieber, meaning the passing form of Jass, can change which player receives the decision and what information the table has revealed. A strong Puur-based hand remains a strong candidate, but the lead and partner’s cards can alter the best timing.

When is Obenabe better than naming a trump suit?

Obenabe is better than a trump contract when your strength is spread across suits and depends on high cards. Obenabe, the top-down contract, uses the ace as the strongest card in every suit. The order then runs through the king, Ober, Under and ten before the lower cards. This contract rewards breadth rather than concentration in a single trump suit.

Obenabe gives each suit 38 card points. The ace, ten and eight carry the main card-point weight, while the king, Ober and Under also contribute. The distribution differs from a trump contract, where the trump suit contains 62 card points and each plain suit contains 30. The figures do not decide the contract by themselves, but they explain why Obenabe can suit a hand with winners in different suits.

Look for aces across the suits. A hand with high cards in different suits can create multiple leads and make it harder for opponents to control the round through a single suit. Aces supported by kings, Obers or Tens are more useful than isolated aces because the supporting cards can help preserve the lead or establish later tricks.

Do not choose Obenabe merely because the Puur is absent. A hand with a strong Nell and useful cards in its suit may still prefer trump. A hand with a single ace and disconnected lower cards may also fail in Obenabe. Compare the hand’s shape rather than counting its most impressive card.

A practical comparison looks like this:

• Prefer trump when one suit has the Puur, Nell or a convincing group of supporting trumps.
• Prefer Obenabe when aces and other high cards are distributed across suits.
• Prefer Obenabe when your best cards can lead in different suits without relying on trump control.
• Reconsider Obenabe when your high cards are isolated and cannot create follow-up tricks.

The contracts guide places Obenabe beside the other contract choices. Its multiplier can matter in a close comparison, but it cannot turn scattered cards into a dependable sequence. First ask how your side will win tricks. Then consider how the agreed scoring table changes the result.

When does Undenufe fit the hand better?

Undenufe fits a hand that gains strength from low cards rather than high cards. Undenufe, the bottom-up contract, reverses the usual ladder: the six is strongest, followed by the seven, eight, nine and ten, then the Under, Ober and king, with the ace lowest. A hand rich in connected low cards can therefore succeed where Obenabe would make those cards weak.

The reversed order requires careful inspection. In Undenufe, the six is the top card and the ace has no trick-taking strength. The ten and eight carry substantial card points, while the six is the strongest card by rank. Each suit has 38 card points under Undenufe. The seven and nine can be useful winners because of their position even though they contribute no card points.

Look for connected low-card groups. A six beside a seven or eight gives your side a natural route to an early trick and may help establish the suit. Low cards spread across suits can also support Undenufe, provided your side can lead them before opponents establish their own winners. An isolated six is less convincing because surrounding cards may leave it without a useful continuation.

Undenufe offers a genuine alternative when the hand has no dependable trump base and its aces are poor. Inspect the lower cards instead of judging the hand by the usual high-card standards. A hand that looks weak under Obenabe may contain the exact structure needed for Undenufe: sixes, connected ranks and enough cards to continue after the first winning trick.

Use these rules of thumb:

• Find the sixes before judging the low-card plan.
• Look for connected sixes, sevens and eights in the same suit.
• Give extra attention to low-card strength spread across suits.
• Reject Undenufe when the hand relies mainly on aces or disconnected high cards.
• Check whether your side can lead the strong low suits at a useful moment.

The partner play guide explains why entries and suit communication matter after the contract has been chosen. Undenufe rewards a clear plan for reaching low-card winners. Its regional multiplier should be considered only after the inverted strength order genuinely fits the hand.

How should the regional multiplier affect your choice?

The multiplier should separate close, credible contracts rather than create a contract from nothing. It multiplies the whole written round for both teams, including tricks, Weis, the declared combinations, and Stöck, the king-and-Ober combination in the trump suit. The factor does not apply only to the team that chose the contract.

The common table, and the table the app writes by default, gives Eicheln ×1, Rosen ×1, Schellen ×2, Schilten ×2, Obenabe ×3 and Undenufe ×4. These are not the only regional values. A widely published variant gives both Obenabe and Undenufe ×3. An ascending variant gives Eicheln ×1, Rosen ×2, Schellen ×3, Schilten ×4, Obenabe ×5 and Undenufe ×6.

The agreed table changes the comparison between marginal choices. Under the common table, Undenufe has a larger factor than Obenabe. Under the widely published variant, those contracts share the same factor. Under the ascending variant, every named suit has a different factor, and the contract choice affects the multiplier in a clear progression.

Use the multiplier after judging trick control. If a trump suit gives your side a reliable Puur-based plan and another suit offers only a slightly higher factor, the sounder hand usually matters more. If Obenabe and Undenufe both look playable, the agreed regional table can help you choose between them. A higher factor is not a reason to select Undenufe with an ace-heavy hand, and a lower factor is not a reason to abandon a contract that clearly fits.

The multiplier also affects Weis and Stöck because both form part of the written round. A useful Weis pattern can strengthen a close decision, but it cannot repair a contract that lacks winning tricks. The factor rewards a sound plan for both teams; it does not protect the team that chose poorly.

Before comparing close contracts, confirm:

• Which multiplier table does the table use?
• Does your preferred contract remain reliable under its actual strength order?
• Will the factor improve a sound choice rather than tempt you into a weak one?
• Have you included tricks, Weis and Stöck in the whole-round calculation?

The Jasstafel, meaning the scoring board, records the agreed contract and its scoring values. Regional practice matters, so name the variant rather than treating a single multiplier table as universal.

How can you choose the contract at the table?

Choose the contract by assessing control, continuation and the agreed multiplier in that order. Start with the cards most likely to win tricks, compare the three contract families, then check Weis, Stöck and the regional scoring table. A fixed process keeps an attractive factor from distracting you from the actual hand.

Inspect each possible trump suit first. Find the Puur and Nell, then assess the ace, king and Ober in that suit. Check whether further trumps support the plan and whether plain-suit aces or tens provide useful entries. A suit containing the Puur, Nell and supporting cards deserves serious consideration because it combines immediate authority with a route to later tricks.

Next inspect Obenabe from the top down. Look for aces in different suits and ask whether kings, Obers or Tens can help those aces remain useful. A broad high-card hand can be safer than a thin trump plan because it can create leads in different suits. An isolated ace without continuation should not carry the whole decision.

Then inspect Undenufe from the bottom up. Find the sixes, sevens and eights, and look for connected low-card groups. Ask whether your side can reach those cards before opponents establish their own winners. A hand with several high cards but no low-card structure should not choose Undenufe simply because its multiplier is attractive.

Use this final checklist:

• Control: Which contract contains the clearest winning cards?
• Continuation: Can your side make useful plays after the first trick?
• Coverage: Is the strength concentrated in a suit or spread across suits?
• Support: Can partner’s cards complete the plan?
• Scoring: Which regional multiplier applies to this table?
• Extras: Do Weis or Stöck support the choice without replacing trick strength?

The Schieber rules explain the passing decision when the hand does not offer a convincing contract. Passing gives the next decision to the other side, so it still requires judgement. The Schieber is part of the tactical choice, not a way to avoid examining the hand.

These rules of thumb leave room for the lead, known cards and partner play. Choose the contract that gives your side the clearest route to tricks, then let the agreed regional table settle close comparisons.