Hungarian Tarokk: Puzzle X5

HU-X5 Puzzle

You are the Declarer and took Three off the talon. Your hand is now: Skus, I, XXI, Khearts, Kdiamonds, Kspades, Kclubs, IX, VI, III, Qdiamonds, 1diamonds.

You must discard three cards to get back to nine. All seven cards worth 5 are sitting in your hand right now: which three do you discard, and why is one of them forced to be a Tarok?

Reveal answer

Answer

All seven protected cards, the three honours and the four Kings, must stay: your only legal candidates are IX, VI, III, Qdiamonds and 1diamonds. Only two of those five are color cards (Qdiamonds and 1diamonds); with three discards required, you are forced to send one Tarok to the face-up discard whether you like it or not. Discard Qdiamonds, 1diamonds, and the lowest Tarok, III: better to reveal a small, uninformative card than a mid Tarok that hints at your calling plans, and IX and VI stay home as flexible reserve.