You are planning a quiet II Ultimo. It is trick 24 of 27, fourth-from-end. You hold the II and one spare Tarok, the VI. Your opponent’s hand still holds two Taroks, the XIV and the IV; a third Tarok, the IX, is buried in one of your opponent’s unrevealed Strawman piles.
Can you clear the road for the II, and if not, what is the sound play with your remaining leads?
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Answer
Not safely. A two-card trick only draws one card out of your opponent, and if you lead the VI, a sound opponent simply follows with the lower IV, keeping the XIV in hand to catch your II on trick 26. The buried IX is worse than useless to chase: a Tarok sitting in an unrevealed pile cannot be drawn out by any lead of yours, no matter how many spares you spend. With one spare Tarok facing two Taroks your opponent gets to choose between, you can neither outnumber nor outrank what is waiting for you. The sound play gives up the special timing: lead the VI to win an ordinary trick now, banking pips while they are still certain, and let the II win whatever trick it fairly can, rather than gambling it on a bonus the count no longer supports. pending the house rule’s VP value; the reasoning holds regardless.