Grand and Null: the other two Skat games

Lesson 5 of 11, about 2 min

The declarer is not limited to naming a suit. Skat has three kinds of game: suit games, where one suit is trumps, Grand and Null.

In Grand only the four Jacks are trumps, ♣J ♠J ♥J ♦J. All four suits become side suits, each ranked A, 10, K, Q, 9, 8, 7. The declarer still needs 61 card points. Grand is the most valuable game, so it wants plenty of Jacks and Aces.

Null turns everything upside down. There are no trumps, card points don't matter, and the declarer wins only by taking no trick at all: the first trick they take loses the game on the spot. The Jacks go back to their own suits, and the order becomes A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, so the 10 drops below the Jack. A hand full of 7s and 8s can make a lovely Null. Here you practise tricks in both games.