Calling the King — Puzzle X3

You are the Declarer in a Farbendreier, and after the pickup you hold fifteen cards: II, V, IX, K♥, Q♥, C♦, J♦, K♣, Q♣, C♠, J♠, 2♦, 8♣, 9♠, 10♠.

koenigrufen Puzzle #194

Which three do you discard, and does the usual "Taroks only as a last resort" law apply?

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Answer

Discard II, V, and IX, all three of your Taroks. In the Farbendreier the discard laws relax for once: Taroks may be discarded freely, not just as a last resort, and you almost always want to. Here they carry no trump power at all, a plain fifth suit nobody is forced to follow, and these three carry zero Card Points besides. Every court card you keep, by contrast, is real ammunition in a no-trump race to 36. Kings and Trull would still be protected if you held any spare ones; bare Taroks are the one exception written into this contract.