Schafkopf in the Valley

03/09/2000 English German

Edition # 20
San Francisco, 03-09-2000

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Schafkopf in the Valley

Figure [1]: Eight trumps in hand -- probably the easiest game in Schafkopf.

Michael I had already told you about my colleague Dieter, who lives in Santa Cruz and also works at Netscape -- you know, the one with the Bavarian flag in his cubicle. It turns out that Dieter also knows Christian, who came from Bavaria to the USA with Siemens and now works at Netscape. Among the two thousand employees at Netscape, there are, believe it or not, three Germans. We all met for lunch at a Mexican burrito place, and it turned out that Christian also studied at the Technical University of Munich and often played cards in the cafeteria during his studies (he studied almost at the same time as I did) -- which your dear narrator, ahem, also loved to do. So we planned to find a fourth Bavarian, Ernst from Siemens, and persuade him to play Schafkopf in Silicon Valley. A pub was immediately chosen: "Hardy's Bavaria" in Sunnyvale, where a Bavarian is the host and, according to insider circles, you are allowed to play cards -- possibly the only pub in all of America where that's possible.

Figure [2]: The cheerful Schafkopf group in Silicon Valley

For three weeks, emails went back and forth, and there was always someone who couldn't make it. Then finally, on a Monday, suddenly everyone was available. Only problem: "Hardy's Bavaria" is closed on Mondays! So we played at Christian's house in Cupertino. For those of you in the know: Sauspiel 10 cents, Solo 25, runner in Solo from three, in Wenz from two, everyone can double up, no color Wenz, with stock if no one plays, shot takes over. A successful evening... and now Christian has set up the mailing list schafkopf@netscape.com at Netscape, where it's decided when the next game round will take place.

So, if you're ever in the area and know how to play Schafkopf, sign up. I can only say that I play as well as ever, and I was able to keep up with the skilled card players who even counted points and (!) trumps, even though I still play "by feel." There's nothing like a six-year intensive college training! An American colleague at Netscape recently asked me how long it takes to become a reasonably good Schafkopf player, and after some thought, I replied that it would take seven or eight years of continuous training. Indignantly, he turned away! No patience, these people. But honestly, it's really true. You learn the rules faster, of course, but to actually win, it takes more. Much more. Oh, yes. Ha! I can tell you...