All games of Solitaire are played with the full pack of fifty-two cards. The games may be roughly divided into two classes; those in which the result is entirely dependent on chance, and cannot be changed by the player after the cards have been shuffled and cut; and those which present opportunities for judgment and skill, the choice of several ways to the same end being offered to the player at various stages of the game. The first class is of course the simplest, but the least satisfactory, as it is nothing more than a game of chance.
Of the many hundreds of patience games, it is possible to give only a few of the best known.
TAKE TEN. Shuffle and cut the cards, and deal out thirteen face upward in two rows of five each, and one row of three. Any two cards, the pip value of which equals 10, may be withdrawn from the tableau, and others dealt from the top of the pack in their places. Only two cards may be used to form a 10. The K Q J 10 of each suit must be lifted together, none of these cards being touched until all four of the same suit are on the table together. When no cards can be lifted, the game is lost.
The object in most patience games is to arrange the cards in sequences. An ascending sequence is one in which the cards run from A 2 3 up to the King; and a descending sequence is one in which they.run down to the ace. Sequences may be formed of one suit or of mixed suits, according to the rules of the game.
THE CARPET. Shuffle and cut the pack. Deal out twenty cards in four rows of five cards each, face up. This is the carpet. Any aces found in it are taken out and used to form a fifth row, either at the bottom or the side. The holes made in the carpet by removing the aces are then filled up from the pack. Cards are then taken from the carpet to build upon the aces in ascending sequence, following suit, and the holes in the carpet are continually filled up with fresh cards from the top of the pack. As other aces appear they are laid aside to start the sequence in the suit to which they belong. When you are stopped, deal the cards remaining in the pack in a pile on the table by themselves, face upward. If any card appears which can be used in the ascending sequences, take it, and if this enables you to make more holes in the carpet, do so. But after having been driven to deal this extra pile, holes in the carpet can no longer be filled from the pack; they must be patched up with the top cards on the extra pile until it is exhausted.
FOUR OF A KIND. Shuffle and cut the pack, then deal out thirteen cards face down in two rows of five each and one row of three. Deal on the top of these until the pack is exhausted, which will give you four cards in each pile, face down. Imagine that these piles represent respectively the A 2 3 4 5 in the first row; the 67 8 9 10 in the second, and the J Q K in the third. Take the top card from the ace pile, turn it face upward, and place it, still face upward, under the pile to which it belongs. If it is a Jack, for instance, it will go face up under the first pile in the third row. Then take the top card from the second pile, and so on, keeping the left hand as a marker on the pile last drawn from. When you come to a pile which is complete, all the cards being face up, you can skip it, and go on to the next . If at the end you find that the last card to be turned up lies on its proper pile, and needs turning over only, you win; but if you have to remove it to another pile, you lose.
TRY AGAIN. Shuffle and cut the pack, and deal the cards face upward into four heaps. You are not obliged to deal to each pile in succession, but may place the cards on any of the four piles, according to your judgment or pleasure. In dealing out in this manner it is not good policy to cover” one card with a higher, unless you are compelled to do so. Every time you come to an ace, separate it from the others, placing it in a new row, as a foundation for an ascending sequence, which may be continued regardless of the suit of the cards used. The top cards of the four piles are used to build up the sequence. After an ace has appeared, the player may examine the cards in any or all of the piles, but their order must not be disturbed. The object in looking at the cards is to select the pile which is least likely to stop you, or the one having the fewest cards in it.
TAKE FOURTEEN. Shuffle and cut the pack, and deal the cards one at a time, face upward, into twelve piles, and continue dealing on the top of these twelve until the pack is exhausted. This will give you four piles which contain one card more than the others. Then take off any two of the top cards which will make 14, reckoning the Jack as 11, the Queen as 12 and the King as 13, all the others at their face value. Only two cards must be used to make 14. If you succeed in taking off all the cards in this manner, you win. You are at liberty to look at the underneath cards in the various piles, but you must not disturb their positions.
THE IDIOT’S DELIGHT. This is supposed to be the best of all solitaires. A full pack of 52 cards is thoroughly shuffled, cut and then dealt face up. Nine cards are placed in a row from left to right. Upon these eight cards from left to right, then seven, six, and so on down to one. There will now be a triangle of 45 cards, with a row of nine at the top and a file of nine at the left. The remaining seven cards are placed apart, all face up, and can be used at any time the player wishes.
As soon as an ace is free at the bottom of any vertical file, it is placed above the triangle, to be built upon in suit and sequence up to the king. It is not compulsory to build. Only one card may be moved at a time from one file to another, and only the. bottom card of the file. All cards so moved must be placed on a card of a different color, and in descending sequence; such as a red seven on a black eight. If a card cannot be so placed it cannot be moved except to go info a space. Spaces are made by getting all the cards away from one vertical file to other files, or to the aces. Cards once built on the aces cannot be taken back again under any conditions.
Spaces may be filled by any card, but it is obvious that kings cannot be moved except into spaces. The object is to get the entire fifty-two cards built up on the aces. This should be done about once in every three or four attempts.
Traditional Solitaire or Klondike…
This game is sometimes mistakenly called “Canfield”, but that is a distinct game, described elsewhere, in which there are separate piles for stock and foundations.
Shuffle the full pack of fifty-two cards, cut and turn up the top card. Lay six more cards in a row to the right of the first card .bj^alHace down. Upon the second card of this row place another card face up, and then cards face down on the remaining five of the top row. On the third pile from the left, place another card face up, and then four more face down to the right. Continue this until you have seven cards face up, which will give you twenty eight cards in your layout.
Take out any aces showing, and place them in a row by themselves for “foundations.” Build up on these aces in sequence and suit to kings. On the layout, build in descending sequence, red on black, black on red, turning up the top card when any pile is left without a faced card upon it. If there is more than one card face up on any pile, they must be removed together or not at all. Spaces may be filled only with kings.
The stock is run off three cards at a time, and any card showing can be used. The pack can be run through in this manner until no cards showing can be used, but there must be no shuffling or rearrangement of the cards. Sometimes it is the rule to run through the pack once only, turning up one card at a time.
The object of the game is to see how many cards can be built on the ace row. A better average can usually be obtained when the pack is run off three at a time with the privilege of running through again and again as long as any card can be used.
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