It is not good play to bid a Solo on four or five trumps unless you have some aces in the other suits. A Grand may be bid even without a trump, if you have the lead, and hold four aces, or three aces and four Tens. A Grand with any two Wenzels is safe if you have two good suits. A Nullo should never be bid unless the player has the Seven of his long suit.
A certain amount of risk must be taken in all bids, and a player who never offers a game that is not perfectly safe is called a Maurer; one who builds on a solid foundation. The player who offers the most games will usually win the most unless he is a very poor player.
Leading. The single player should almost always begin with the trumps, in order to get them out of his way. With a sequence of Wenzels, it is a common artifice to begin with the lowest, hoping the second player may fatten the trick by discarding a Ten or Ace, under the impression that the Hinterhand can win it. This style of underplay is called Wimmelfinte, and the Mittelhand should beware of it. With only one Wenzel and the Ace and Ten, it is better to begin with a small trump. If you find all the trumps in one hand against you, or tenace over you, stop leading trumps, and play forcing cards.
If you have no Wenzels it is usually best to lead your smallest trumps. If you have only Ace Ten and small trumps, and know the adversaries have one Wenzel and one trump better than your small one, lead your Ten, so that they cannot make both trumps. In playing for a schneider, it is often advisable to continue the trumps, even after the adversaries are exhausted, so that they shall not know which suit to keep for the last trick.
Laying out the Skat. In a Frage or a Tourné, some judgment is required in discarding for the Skat. It is often necessary to lay aside the Ace and Ten of trumps if there is any danger that the adversaries may catch them. Unguarded Tens should always be laid out, and it is a good general principle to get rid of one suit entirely, so that you can trump it. It is a common practice to put in the Skat the Ace and Ten of a suit of which you hold also the King. When you lead the King, if Mittelhand has none of the suit he is sure to fatten the trick for his partner, thinking he must have Ace or Ten. With the Ten, King, and small cards of a plain suit, lay the Ten and King in the Skat.
The Adversaries should combine against the single player by getting him between them if possible. If you sit on the left of the player, lead your short suits up to him; but if you sit on his right, lead your longest suit through him. Try to force out his trumps on your plain-suit cards if you can, and avoid giving him discards of his weak suits. With a long trump suit, it is often advantageous to lead it through the player, but seldom right to lead it up to him.
In Solos, the adversaries should lead Aces and winning cards, and change suits frequently. If you are playing against a Grand, and have two trumps, one of them the best, lead it, and then play your long suit; but if you have the two smallest trumps, lead the long suit first, and force with it every time you get in.
The partners should always scheme to protect each other’s Tens by keeping the Aces of plain suits. For this reason it is very bad play to fatten with the Ace of a suit of which you have not the Ten, or to play an Ace third hand when there are only small cards in the trick, and the Ten of the suit has not been played and you do not hold it.
If the player is void of a suit, continue leading it, no matter what you hold in it. This will either weaken his trumps, or, if he is between you, will give your partner discards.
If the player leads a Wenzel, it is usually best to cover it if you can; but do not play the club Jack on the diamond Jack unless you want the lead very badly.