How to Play Schieber Jass
Schieber is Switzerland’s most popular card game — a team game for 4 players. You and your partner collect card points by winning tricks. The first team to 1000 points wins.
Quick version: Team game, 9 cards each. Pick a trump mode (suit, tops-down, or bottoms-up). Win tricks to collect card points. First to 1000 as a team.
How It’s Different
- Three trump modes — you don’t just pick a suit. You can also go “tops-down” or “bottoms-up” where card rankings change!
- Card points, not just tricks — every card has a point value. Some tricks are worth a lot, others almost nothing.
- Smaller deck — 36 cards (6 through Ace) instead of 52.
The Deck
Same as Differenzler — a 36-card Jass deck with four suits, each with 6 through Ace.
Each player gets 9 cards. Each round has 9 tricks.
Your partner sits across from you. You share a score.
The Three Trump Modes
At the start of each round, one player (the “forehand”) picks the trump mode:
Standard: Pick a Suit
Choose a suit as trump. Trump cards become stronger and worth more.
Under = 20 pts (Puur — strongest card!)
9 = 14 pts (Nell — second strongest)
Ace = 11 pts
Card strength in trump: Under > 9 > Ace > King > Ober > 10 > 8 > 7 > 6
Card strength in other suits: Ace > King > Ober > Under > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7 > 6
Obenabe (Tops-Down)
No trump suit. Normal ranking — highest card wins. Special twist: the 8 is worth 8 points.
Ace = 11 pts (strongest)
8 = 8 pts (special!)
Card strength: Ace > King > Ober > Under > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7 > 6
Undenufe (Bottoms-Up)
No trump suit. Everything is flipped — the lowest card wins! The 6 is worth 11 points and the 8 is worth 8 points.
6 = 11 pts (strongest + most valuable!)
8 = 8 pts
Ace = 0 pts (weakest!)
Card strength: 6 > 7 > 8 > 9 > 10 > Under > Ober > King > Ace
Card Points Reference
There are 157 total points each round (152 from cards + 5 last trick bonus).
| Card | Trump pts | Non-trump pts | Obenabe pts | Undenufe pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under (Jack) | 20 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ace | 11 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| King | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Ober (Queen) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
Playing Tricks
Each of the 9 tricks works like this:
The leader plays any card.
Everyone else:
- Have the led suit? Play it — OR play trump instead (Standard mode only)
- Don’t have it? Play any card
Who wins:
- Standard: Highest trump wins. No trump → highest of led suit
- Obenabe: Highest of led suit wins
- Undenufe: Lowest of led suit wins
Special Rules (Standard Mode)
Puur exception: If trump is led and your only trump is the Under (Puur), you can play any card instead.
Undertrump restriction: If someone already trumped the trick, you can only play a higher trump — no throwing away a weak trump. Exception: if you have zero cards of the led suit, you can play anything.
Marriage Bonus (Stoeck)
If you play both the King and Ober (Queen) of the trump suit in a round, your team earns +20 bonus points.
O
= +20 points for your team!
Scoring
After 9 tricks, both partners’ card points are combined. Add any marriage bonus. The team that wins the last trick gets +5 bonus.
First team to 1000 points wins the session.
Tips for New Players
- Pick trump in your strongest suit — if you have the Puur or Nell plus more trump, that’s gold
- Obenabe with lots of Aces — multiple Aces? Go tops-down and let them dominate
- Undenufe with lots of 6s and 7s — a “bad” hand becomes incredible when low cards are strongest
- Don’t forget marriages — King + Ober of trump = 20 free points
- The last trick is worth +5 — don’t give it away in close rounds