Schieber Jass for beginners: how to play Jass step by step

01What is Schieber Jass?

Jass is the card game that Switzerland plays in restaurants, on trains and at kitchen tables, and Schieber is the version most groups mean when they say "jassen". It is a trick-taking game for four players in two teams. You and the player opposite you are partners. Each deal one player decides how the cards will be played: with a trump suit, with no trump and high cards winning (Obenabe), or with no trump and low cards winning (Undeufe). Teams collect points from the cards they win and race to a target score.

Everything below matches the rules of our free table, so you can read a section and then try it straight away. If you already know Belote or Klaverjassen, you will recognise a lot: the Jack and 9 of trumps rule the game in all three. When you are ready, play Jass online free against the computer or with friends.

02What you need: four players and 36 cards

Jass uses a 36-card deck: four suits of nine cards. On traditional Swiss cards the suits are Schellen (bells), Schilten (shields), Rosen (roses) and Eicheln (acorns), and each suit runs 6, 7, 8, 9, Banner (the 10), Under, Ober, King and Ace. Many players, especially in French-speaking Switzerland, use French cards instead: hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs, with Jack in place of the Under and Queen in place of the Ober.

Our table draws both decks, so you can switch with one toggle. The mapping is Rosen to hearts, Schellen to diamonds, Schilten to spades and Eicheln to clubs.

Partners sit opposite each other and play goes counter-clockwise, to the right. All 36 cards are dealt, so each player has nine and every deal has nine tricks. If you play alone, the computer takes the other three seats.

03Step 1: choose the game, or push it with "schiebe"

Each deal one player has the right to choose. This right moves one seat on after every deal, so everyone gets the same chances. After looking at their nine cards, the chooser picks one of six options:

• One of the four suits as trump.
• Obenabe: no trump, the highest card of the led suit wins.
• Undeufe (also written Undenufe or Uneufe): no trump, the lowest card of the led suit wins.
• Or "schiebe": push the decision to your partner, who must then choose. They cannot push it back.

04Step 2: play the tricks

The first card of a trick sets the led suit. In a trump game, Jass gives you more freedom than most card games:

• You may follow the led suit, or you may play a trump instead, even if you still hold the led suit.
• If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card. You never have to trump.
• The Buur (the Under of trumps) is never forced. If it is your only trump and trumps are led, you may keep it.
• You may not undertrump: once someone has trumped a trick, you cannot add a lower trump unless your hand holds only trumps.
• The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the best card of the led suit wins, and the winner leads next.

05Step 3: learn the card values

Tricks are only worth what is inside them, so you need to know which cards carry points. The trump suit changes two cards completely: the Under becomes the Buur, the top card worth 20, and the 9 becomes the Nell, second only to the Buur and worth 14.

• Trump suit, high to low: Buur (Under) 20, Nell (9) 14, Ace 11, King 4, Ober 3, 10 10, 8, 7, 6 (0 each).
• Other suits, high to low: Ace 11, King 4, Ober 3, Under 2, 10 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 (0 each).
• Obenabe: the normal order from Ace down to 6, and every 8 is worth 8 points.
• Undeufe: reversed, the 6 is the best card and worth 11, every 8 is worth 8, and the Ace is worth 0.
• Every deal holds 157 points: 152 in the cards and 5 for winning the last trick.
• A Match, all nine tricks to one team, is worth 257: the 157 plus a 100 bonus.

06Step 4: Weis and Stöck, the bonus points

Weis are combinations in your hand that score extra. With the Weis option on, which is our default, they are found and shown automatically in the first trick, so you never miss one. Sequences must be in one suit and use the order 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Under, Ober, King, Ace.

• Three cards in sequence 20, four 50, five 100, six 150, seven 200, eight 250, nine 300.
• Four Unders 200, four 9s 150, and four Aces, Kings, Obers or 10s 100.
• Only the team with the best single Weis scores, but then it scores all of its Weis, including weaker ones.
• Stöck is the King and Ober of trumps in one hand, worth 20. It only exists when a suit is trump.

07Step 5: scoring a deal, multipliers and the counting order

After nine tricks each team adds up its trick points, its Weis (if it had the best one) and Stöck. Our table offers two scoring styles. Simple counts every deal once and is usually played to 1000. Classic uses multipliers: Eicheln and Rosen count once, Schellen and Schilten double, and Obenabe and Undeufe triple, and the multiplier applies to everything scored in that deal. Classic is usually played to 2500. You can choose a target of 1000, 1500 or 2500.

The end of a match has one rule beginners always ask about. Points are counted in a fixed order: Stöck, then Weis, then trick points. The first team to reach the target in that order wins, even if the other team would pass the target with its trick points in the same deal.

08A worked scoring example

Here is one full deal with classic multipliers and a target of 2500. Your team has 2340 points and the opponents have 2420, so they are ahead.

• It is your turn to choose. Your hand has no clear plan, so you say "schiebe". Your partner chooses Schellen as trump, which counts double. You still lead the first trick.
• Weis: you hold 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Rosen, four in sequence for 50. Your partner holds Under, Ober and King of Eicheln, three in sequence for 20. An opponent shows a three-card sequence too. Your 50 is the best single Weis, so your team scores both of its Weis, 70, and the opponents score none.
• Stöck: your partner holds the King and Ober of Schellen, worth 20.
• Tricks: your team wins six tricks, including the last, with 96 card points plus 5 for the last trick, 101 in total. The opponents take the other 56, and 101 plus 56 makes 157.
• With the double for Schellen your team scores Stöck 40, Weis 140 and tricks 202, a total of 382. The opponents score 112.
• Now the counting order: your team adds Stöck first, 2340 + 40 = 2380. Then Weis, 2380 + 140 = 2520. You have passed 2500 and win the match on the spot.
• The opponents would have reached 2532 with their trick points, but trick points come last, so they never get there.

09Common beginner mistakes

Most new players make the same few mistakes. Knowing them saves a lot of points:

• Thinking you must follow suit when you could trump. In a trump game you may trump any time.
• Thinking you must trump when you are out of a suit. You may throw any card, which is often better when your partner is winning.
• Pushing with a strong hand. If you hold the Buur with two or three more trumps, choose yourself.
• Forgetting the multiplier. A good Obenabe or Undeufe hand counts triple with classic scoring, so it is worth choosing.
• Leading 10s early. They are worth 10 points but lose to the Ace, King and Ober.
• Ignoring the counting order near the end. Stöck and Weis can win the match before a single trick point is counted.

10Jass vs Belote: what carries over

If you play Belote, you already know the heart of Jass. In both games the Jack (Under) of trumps is worth 20 and the 9 of trumps 14, and the King and Queen (Ober) of trumps score 20 as belote-rebelote in Belote and as Stöck in Jass. The differences: Jass uses 36 cards instead of 32, gives nine cards each, totals 157 per deal instead of 162, lets you trump at any time, and adds Obenabe, Undeufe and schieben. Our guide to Belote rules, bidding and scoring explains the French side of the family.

11Play now: your first game of Jass

The best way to learn is to play a few deals. Open Jass: Schieber, choose Easy against the computer and keep the Weis option on. The table only lets you play legal cards and shows a scoring breakdown after each deal, so you can check every number from this guide. When it clicks, invite friends with a room link: they join in the browser with no app and no account, and the computer fills any empty seat. It is free on phone, tablet and computer.