The International Skat Players Association (ISPA) is the worldwide umbrella organisation for all competition players of the card game Skat. The ISPA was founded in 1976 by Peter Brand and Martha Prickartz in Aachen, Germany.
It initially crossed swords with the world's largest national Skat association, the German Skat Association (Deutscher Skatverband, DSkV), and promulgated different rules for the game. Towards the end of the 1990s, talks between the top officials of each organisation led to rapprochement and agreement between the two large associations. The ban on double membership was lifted and a uniform International Skat Order (Internationale Skatordnung , ISkO) was adopted, which has been valid worldwide ever since. The ISPA delegates two regular commissioners to the International Skat Court (Internationale Skatgericht).
ISPA World is divided into national branches with regional groups and further subdivisions down to local clubs. It operates its own leagues as well as cup and championship competitions. Its focus is on the open World and European Skat Championships, which have been held annually since 1978/1979 at various venues. In addition, ISPA has organized the Online Skat World Championships biennially since 2011. Furthermore, ISPA publishes the annual magazine, Skatmagazin.
The subdivision of ISPA Germany (ISPA-Deutschland) has relatively few members in comparison with the DSkV and is inter alia jointly responsible for organising the annual German Skat Championship. [1] This results in double events, because the DSkV also organises German championships with individual and team competitions and runs federal and regional Skat leagues. [2]
Skat, historically Scat, is a three-player trick-taking card game of the ace–ten family, devised around 1810 in Altenburg in the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. It is the national game of Germany and, along with Doppelkopf, it is the most popular card game in Germany and Silesia and one of the most popular in the rest of Poland. A variant of 19th-century Skat was once popular in the US. John McLeod considers it one of the best and most interesting card games for three players, and Kelbet described it as "the king of German card games." The German Skat Association assess that it is played by around 25 million Germans – more than play football.
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The World Skat Championship has been organised biannually since 1978 by the International Skat Players Association (ISPA) at various locations worldwide and is the highest level Skat competition in the world. It alternates with the European Skat Championship which has taken place biannually since 1979 and which ISPA also organises. In addition to the title of World Skat Champion, players compete for other titles: the Women's World Skat Champion, a Youth World Champion, a Veteran World Champion and a Veteran Women's World Champion.
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Skat tournaments are known as Preisskats and are very common in Germany where Skat is mainly played. They are usually organised by Skat clubs or other local clubs.
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