5. Solitaire Games

Solitaire games are meant to be played when you are solitary or alone. They will help you pass the time pleasantly when you have to stay in bed or when you want to relax.

ACCORDION

(1 deck)
Deal the cards one at a time face up, in a row from left to right. Go slowly so that you can continually compare the last card dealt with its neighbors. Whenever this card matches its immediate neighbor at the left, or the card third to its left, you may move the new card over upon that which it matches. The matching may be in suit or in rank. Suppose that the first four cards you turn up are:
<spade> J <diamond>5 <club> 8 <spade>8

The <club> 8 matches the * 8 and also the £> Jack. You may move it over upon either card. Here, it is just a guess which play will turn out better. Later on, you will find that one play is better than another, when you have choice, for it opens additional plays. Keep watch for new plays made possible by consolidating piles. For example, suppose that you deal:
<heart>2 <club>5<diamond>Q <club>2

You can move the <club> 2 upon the <heart> 2. Then two clubs are adjacent, so you can move the <club> 5 upon the <club>2.Move the piles of cards as a whole, not just the top card. When a gap is left in the row because you have moved a pile away, shove all the piles leftward to close up the gap.

To WIN THE GAME you must get the whole deck into one pile. You will not succeed very often. You really are entitled to consider that you have won if you end with no more than five piles.

HIT OR MISS

(1 deck)
Deal the cards one at a time face up into a single waste-pile. As you deal, count "Ace, two, three . . ." and so on up to the "King." Whenever the card you deal is the same as the rank you call, that is a hit. Throw all the hit cards out of the deck. After you count "King" start over again with "Ace, two . . ." and so on. When you have dealt the entire deck, pick up the wastepile, turn it face down, and continue dealing. Also continue counting, from where you left off.

To WIN THE GAME you must hit every card in the deck. But you lose the game if you go through the deck twice in succession without a single hit.

EVEN UP

(1 deck)
Discard from the deck all face cards (Kings, Queens and Jacks). Shuffle the 40 cards, then deal them one at a time face up in a row from left to right. Keep watch of the pairs of adjacent cards. Whenever such a pair is both odd (as two 7's) or both even (as two 8's) throw it out.

To WIN THE GAME you must throw out all 40 cards in pairs.

KNOCKOUT

(1 deck)
Discard all 2's to 6's, leaving a deck of 32 cards. Shuffle it well, then deal three cards face up in a column at your left. If any is a club, throw it out to start a wastepile, then deal a new card to take its place. If the new card is a club, throw it out and deal another—and so on, until you have three non-clubs in the column. Then deal four more columns of three cards each, from left to right. From this array of 15 cards, throw out all clubs into the wastepile. But do not fill the spaces so made in the four columns at right of the first.

Gather the remaining cards of the array and shuffle them well together with the cards left in the stock. In other words, shuffle all of the 32 cards except the discarded clubs. Deal a second time in the same way as the first, and having again thrown out all clubs, gather the remainder, shuffle, and deal a third time.

To WIN THE GAME you must discard all eight clubs in the three deals.

THE WISH

(1 deck)
I am reliably informed that if you win this game the first time you try it, you will get your wish. I cannot vouch for this, but that is what they say.

Use a deck of 32 cards, as in Knockout. Shuffle it well, then count off 4 cards at a time face down, then turn them face up. Be careful to keep the pile squared up so that you cannot see what any of the cards are below the top. Deal the whole deck into piles of 4 cards in this way. Then lift off the top cards in pairs of the same kind—two sevens, two Queens, and so on. Keep going as long as you see any pairs.

To WIN THE GAME you must clear away all the piles in pairs.

CLOCK

(1 deck)
Shuffle the deck, then deal it into 13 piles of 4 cards each, all face down. Arrange 12 of the piles in a circle, to represent the numbers on a clock dial. Put the 13th pile in the center of the circle. Start play by picking up the top card of the 13-pile. Suppose it i.; a 5. Shove it face up under the 5-pile and pick up the top card of that pile. Suppose it is a Jack. Put it under the 11-pile, pick up the top of that pile— and so on.

Jacks represent 11, Queens, 12, and Kings, 13, other cards their pip value.

To WIN THE GAME you must get all the cards face up. The game is lost if you come to the fourth King before all the other cards have been moved face up to their proper hour piles.

KLONDIKE

(1 deck)
Deal a row of 7 cards, the first (at left) face up and the others face down. These cards start your 7 piles, which we will consider to be numbered from 1 to 7, left to right.

Next, deal a card face up on pile 2 and one face down on each of piles 3 to 7. Continue with a card face up on pile 3 and cards face down on piles 4 to 7. Continue in the same way, ending with one card face up on pile 7. Thus each pile has as many cards in it as its number; the top card of each pile is face up and all the others are face down. The rest of the cards are left on the side, face down, as the stock.

You may move the face-up cards to build them on each other. In building, you must alternate colors, red on black or black on red, and go down in sequence of rank. Thus the 4 of clubs may be moved upon the 5 of hearts or on the 5 of diamonds. Kings are highest, and may be moved only into space created by removing entire piles.

In building, keep the cards spread downward so that you can read them all. When two or more cards are built on each other, move all of them as a unit. For example, if you have a black ten on a red Jack, you may move the two cards together onto a black Queen. Whenever you move the face up cards away from a pile, turn up the top face-down card.

Aces are base cards. Whenever you have an Ace on a pile, or turn an Ace from the stock, put it in a base row above the piles. Build up on the Aces in suit and sequence: A, 2, 3, 4 ...J,Q,K.

To WIN THE GAME you must get all four suits built up on the Aces.

After you have done all the building you can on the piles and Aces (if any), turn over the top card of the stock. (The stock is the undealt remainder of the deck.) Play this card on a pile or base if you can. If not, set it aside face up to start your wastepile. Continue turning up cards from the stock one by one, playing them when you can, and putting them on the wastepile when you can't. You may play off the top of the wastepile, if the next card turned alters the piles or bases so as to make such play possible. You may go through the stock only once.

SKILLFUL PLAY: YOU must put Aces in the base row whenever they turn up, but you are not compelled to build on them when you can. It sometimes pays to keep cards on the piles, instead of moving them to bases, in order to help in building.

The important thing is to uncover all the face-down cards as quickly as possible. With a choice of plays (such as black 9's on two piles with a red 10 elsewhere), play off of the pile containing the most face-down cards.

You may prefer, however, to play so as to reach a single face-down card, since you will get a space if you can build with that card. It is helpful to get spaces when you can because Kings may be moved only into spaces. If you have no spaces, any Kings that you turn up will stay where they are and thus prevent you from reaching the face-down cards underneath them.

CANFIELD

(1 deck)
Count off 13 cards face down, then put them on the table at your left, face up. Keep the pile squared up so that only the top card can be read. Deal one card face up on the table, above and to the right of the 13-pile. This card is your first base, and all other cards of the same rank will also be bases. Whenever you uncover any base card, move it up into a row beside the first.

Deal four cards in a row face up, to the right of the 13-pile. These cards start your building piles. Build as in Klondike, down in rank and alternating in color. But your base cards are not necessarily Aces, as in Klondike. The rank of cards goes "around the corner"—J, Q, K, A, 2, etc.—and the circle is broken at the rank of the base cards. Suppose this is 5. Then 4's cannot be moved off the piles except to be built on the bases, while Kings may be built upon Aces.

To WIN THE GAME you must get the whole deck built upon the four base cards.

Whenever you get a space by clearing away one of the building piles, fill the space with the top card of the 13-pile. It is of course vital to dig into the 13-pile as quickly as possible. Build up in suit and sequence on your base cards, as in Klondike, remembering to "go around the corner" when the bases are not Aces.

The undealt remainder of the deck is the stock. Turn up cards from the stock in batches of 3, being careful not to mix their order. Lay each batch of 3 on a single wastepile. The top card of each batch may be built off upon the piles or bases, and lower cards in the wastepile may be played off as soon as they are uncovered. Go through the whole stock by 3's, playing what you can as you go. Then turn the wastepile face down to form a new stock, and go through it by 3's in the same way. You may thus run through the stock without limit, until you win the game or come to a standstill.

After your 13-pile is exhausted (all the cards having been played into spaces, upon the building piles, or on the bases), you may fill a space in the 4 piles by any available card you-please. Don't be too hasty about filling such precious spaces. They are often needed to uncover a key card in your stock. Usually, fill a late space only when you have calculated that you will get it back again before reaching a blocked position.

POUNCE

This is a way of playing Klondike or Canfield as a round game, with any number of contestants up to seven or eight. The only limit is actually the number that can sit around the table and find elbow room.

Each player has his own deck. All the decks must have different backs, so that the cards can be sorted out later. Each player lays out his initial cards for Klondike or Can-field—whatever the game chosen. Everybody must be given time to complete the layout. Then at a given signal all begin to play.

Each plays the game in the usual way, building on his own piles, but all the base cards must be put in the center and they become everybody's property. A player may build on anybody's base cards. The first to get rid of all his cards onto the bases wins the game.

If the play comes to a standstill before anybody has got rid of all his cards, the base piles are sorted out and the cards are returned to their owners. The one who got the most cards into the center wins the game.

When the game is Canfield, a shorter game can be played: the one who first gets rid of his 13-pile wins. It doesn't matter where the cards go—into the center or on his own building piles, so long as he is able to move them somewhere.

The game is very exciting, and rules should be enforced strictly to keep it from getting rough. A player may put cards on the center piles with one hand only—his right hand, if he is right-handed. If several players try to put the same card on the same pile simultaneously, the one whose card is lowest wins the race and all the others must be taken back.

BEEHIVE

(1 deck)
This is essentially Canfield with simplified building.Count off 10 cards face down, then place them face up on the table at your left. This is the beehive. To right of the hive deal 6 cards face up, in any convenient arrangement, such as two rows of 3. These cards are the garden.

The building is by rank; that is, a 9 goes on a 9, a Queen on a Queen, and so on. Build only on the garden, never on the hive. But remove the top card of the hive whenever you can, to put it on the garden. Garden cards or piles may be built together when they are of the same rank.

Whenever you make a space in the 6 places reserved for the garden, move the top card of the hive into the space, thus releasing the next card of the hive.

The undealt remainder of the deck is the stock. As in Canfield, go through the stock in batches of 3 cards at a time, being careful not to disturb the order of the cards. Put each batch face up on a single wastepile. You may play off the wastepile onto the garden.

After exhausting the stock, pick up your wastepile without shuffling it, turn it over to form a new stock, and go through it again. You may continue going through the stock-wastepile without limit, until you win the game or are blocked.

Whenever you get all four cards of a rank together in' the garden, throw out this pile, creating a space. After the beehive is exhausted, you may fill spaces from the wastepile.

To WIN THE GAME you must throw out the whole deck in fours of the same rank.

GAPS

(1 deck)
Deal out the whole deck face up, in 4 rows of 13 cards each. Pick out the four Aces and discard them, thereby leaving gaps in the rows. Examine the card at the left of each gap. The next-higher card of the same suit may be moved into the gap. For example, if the 8 of diamonds is at the left of a gap, it may be filled by the 9 of diamonds. Moving the 9 of diamonds leaves a gap which you may then fill in the same way with the card next higher than the card at the left of the gap.

Whenever a gap is created at the left end of a row, fill it with any 2 you please.

To WIN THE GAME you must get all four suits in order, one on each row, from 2 to K going left to right.

When a King lies at the left of a gap, that gap is dead— you cannot fill it. Usually all four gaps become dead after some play. Then gather up all the cards except the Aces and the cards which are in proper sequence with a 2 at the left end of a row. Shuffle the cards well and deal them again so as to re-make the 4 rows of 13, but leave a gap in each row just to right of the cards that were not gathered up. That allows you to bring one additional card into its proper place on each row, to start you on a new series of plays.

When play again becomes blocked, gather and redeal the cards in the same way. You are allowed three deals in all.Make the most of what choice you have in play. Choice often arises in the order of moving cards, and in the selection of a 2 to fill a left-end gap. It is surprising how often a good choice will open up many more plays than a poor choice.

PIRATE GOLD

(1 deck)
Deal 10 cards face up on the table. You may place them in any convenient array, such as two rows of 5 each. Now, if any two of these cards are a pair (two Kings, two 5's, etc.), cover each with another face-up card from the deck. Continue in the same way, dealing cards so as to cover all the pairs you see.

To WIN THE GAME you must succeed in dealing out the whole deck.

The game comes out most of the time, but once in a while you will find yourself blocked, all ten cards in sight being of different ranks. In fact, when I played the game as a boy, I turned it around and considered that I won it only if a block arose and so I did not have to deal out the whole deck to cover all the pairs.

PYRAMID

(I deck)
Deal 28 cards face up in the form of a pyramid. Start with 1 card at the top, then a row of 2 below it with these cards overlapping the lower corners of the first. Continue with a row of 3 overlapping the row of 2, and so on, ending with a row of 7 at the bottom. Thus each card in the upper rows is overlapped by 2 cards in the row just below it.

At the beginning, only the 7 cards in the bottom row are free to be moved away. As they are removed, cards in the upper row become free.

Whenever you see 2 free cards in the pyramid that total 13, you may remove them to a discard pile. Jack (counting 11) makes 13 with a 2, and Queen (counting 12) goes with an Ace (1). Kings count 13 and so may be removed singly. Begin the play by removing what cards you can from the pyramid.

The undealt remainder of the deck is the stock. Put this face down at your left, with the discard pile at your right. Turn up cards from the top of the stock one at a time. When you cannot use a turned card immediately, put it face up in a wastepile between the stock and discard pile. You may play off the top of the wastepile, just as you can play from the pyramid.

If a card turned from the stock makes 13 with a free card of the pyramid, or with the top card of the wastepile, you may remove such cards to the discard pile.

To WIN THE GAME you must get the whole deck into the discard pile—that is, match all the cards into 13's.

It is quite proper to keep the wastepile spread so that you can see all the cards in it. When you have choice of removing a card from the wastepile or the pyramid, try to calculate whether one play or the other will cause a block.

For example, suppose that three 7's are gone, two into the discard and one into the wastepile. You turn up the fourth 7, and there happen to be free 6's on the wastepile and on the pyramid. If you take the 6 from the pyramid, you will be blocked, for the 7 needed to remove the 6 from the waste-pile is buried below it. Therefore you must use the fourth 7 to play from the wastepile, hoping to be able to uncover the buried 7 to match with the 6 on the pyramid.

SIMPLE ADDITION

(1 deck)
Unless you are much luckier than I, you will not win Pyramid often. When you find yourself blocked for the umpteenth time, give it up and try Simple Addition. The principle is the same but you don't have to contend with all those buried cards in the pyramid.

Deal 10 cards face up, in two rows of 5. Remove two cards at a time that total 13—Queen with Ace, Jack with 2, 10 with 3, and so on. Remove Kings alone. Fill the spaces by dealing additional cards from the deck.

To WIN THE GAME you must throw out the whole deck in 13s. You are bound to win if you succeed in dealing the entire deck.

LAZY BOY

(1 deck)
Shuffle the deck well. Turn it face down and take off 3 cards from the top, without disturbing their order. Put this batch of 3 face up on the table to start your wastepile. If the top card is an Ace or King, remove it to a row above the wastepile. Eventually you must get all the Aces and Kings into two rows above the wastepile, forming the bases. On the Aces, build cards of the same suit upward in sequence: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. On the Kings, build downward in the same suit: K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8.

Go through the entire deck, turning over batches of 3 cards at a time and putting the batches on the wastepile. Play off the top card of this pile when you can, either to put a base card (Ace or King) in place or to play on a base pile. The lower cards in the wastepile become available for play when they become uncovered.

Having exhausted the stock, pick up the wastepile, turn it over, and continue as before. Be careful not to shuffle or disarrange the cards in the wastepile. You may run through the stock without limit, until you have won the game or have become blocked.

To WIN THE GAME you must build the whole deck upon the base cards.

FOUR-LEAF CLOVER

(1 deck)
It is said that you will have good luck all day if you win this game. Discard all four 10's from the deck—they are not used in the game. Shuffle the remaining 48 cards well. Then deal 16 cards face up on the table, in four rows of four each.

Whenever you can, throw out from this array any two or more cards of the same suit, thus: (a) two or more spot cards that total 15, such as 9-6 or 8-4-2-A (Ace counts 1); (b) three cards, the K-Q-J.

After throwing out a batch of cards, deal from the deck to fill the spaces left in the array of 16 cards.

To WIN THE GAME you must throw out all 48 cards. Another way of saying it is that you must succeed in dealing the entire deck, for if you do, the final 16 cards are bound to match up properly.

In making 15's, try to remove as many cards as possible, so as to bring in all the new cards you can. For example, remove A and 2 rather than the 3.

PERPETUAL MOTION

(1 deck)
Deal 4 cards face up in a row from left to right. If any are of the same rank (as 6's, Aces, Jacks, etc.) move the others upon the one farthest left. Then deal 4 more cards from left to right on the 4 piles (counting a space as a pile if you have moved any of the first 4 cards). Play in the same way if you can, moving any two or more cards of the same rank upon the leftmost such card. All these moves must be one card (the top card) at a time; do not move a whole pile at a time. Continue dealing the deck 4 cards at a time on the previous piles, making what moves you can each time.

Having exhausted the deck, pick up the piles from right to left. That is, put pile 4 (at the right)), still face up, on pile 3 (at its left); put these two together on pile 2, and then the lot on pile 1. Be careful not to disarrange the order of the cards. Then turn the whole pile face down, forming a new stock. Go through it again in the same way. You may similarly deal out the stock any number of times, until you finally win the game, or are blocked.

Whenever the 4 cards you deal at one time prove to be of the same rank, throw all 4 cards out, thus reducing the size of the stock.

To WIN THE GAME you must throw out the entire deck in batches of 4 of a rank.You will see why the game is called Perpetual Motion the first time you play it. It really should be classed as an athletic game!

RUSSIAN BANK

This is a game for two players, based on the principles of solitaire.

CARDS: Each player has a regular deck of 52. The two decks must have different backs.

THE LAYOUT: Each deals from his own deck a pile of 12 cards face down, at his right. This is his reserve. Above the reserve he deals a line of 4 cards, face up, extending toward his opponent. These 8 cards (4 from each player) start the building piles and they are common property. The undealt remainder of the deck is put face down at the owner's left; this is his stock.

BASES: All Aces are base cards. Whenever an Ace becomes available, it must at once be moved into the center, between the building piles. The Aces are placed in two columns parallel to these piles, and they are collectively called the center. Cards may be built on the Aces, in the same suit and in upward sequence 2,3 ... J, Q, K.

BUILDING PILES: On these piles build downward and in alternate colors, as in Klondike and Canfield. The 4 of clubs, for example, may be moved upon the 5 of hearts or on the 5 of diamonds; the Jack of hearts upon any black Queen; and so on. A King cannot be built on another card in the building piles, but of course can go on a Queen of the same suit in the center.

Cards must be moved one at a time from and to the building piles. (This is different from Klondike and Canfield, where you move the whole pile as a unit.)

THE PLAY: The turn to play alternates—you do not play simultaneously, as in Pounce.

At the very first turn of the play, the player must move into the center, from the building piles, any Aces there, also any 2's etc., that can be built on them. Having done so, he may turn the top card of his reserve face up. With exception of this very first turn, a player begins his turn with at least one card face up on his reserve. This point must be mentioned in explaining the rules.

A player must be very careful to observe the following rules in the order of play, else he may lose his turn.

RULES OF ORDER: An available card is one that is free to be moved elsewhere. The term covers: the top card of each building pile; the top card of the player's reserve; a card turned up from the player's stock but not yet put on his wastepile. The cards in the wastepile are never available. A card covered by another in a building pile is not available, though it becomes so if the covering card is moved away. The point of this remark is that a player cannot be charged with an error because he could have made a lower card available but did not do so.

1. Whenever an available card can be moved to the center, this move must be made before any other. If the reserve card can be played to the center, this play must be made ahead of a move from a building pile to the center.

2. On clearing face-up cards off his reserve, the player must turn up the top face-down card before making any other move.

3. Available cards on building piles that can be played to the center may be moved there in any order.

4. Having made all possible moves to the center, the player is free to manipulate the building piles as he pleases to make additional cards available, create spaces, etc.

In the course of such manipulation, it is allowed to move any available card from a building pile into a space. A space is created whenever all of one building pile is removed. (Suppose that one pile comprises * 9 and 0 8, there is a ^ 10 on another pile, and that there is a space. By moving the 0 8 into the space, you can uncover the * 9 and move it upon the W 10. Then when you put the 0 8 back on the * 9 you have two spaces instead of one. Look for such opportunities to create spaces, for they help you get rid of your own cards.)

5. A player must move the top card of his reserve—so long as it lasts—into a space, before he may play from his stock into spaces. He must fill all spaces in the building piles before turning up a card from his stock.

6. Having satisfied all of the foregoing rules, a player may turn up the top card of his stock. He must play it to the center if possible; if not, he may put it on a building pile if possible. (See also Loading, below.) If he cannot find place for it anywhere, he must put it face up on his wastepile, and this act ends his turn. The turn continues so long as the player can find place for the cards he turns up from his stock.

The wastepile is a single pile placed between the player's reserve and stock. Notice that if you put a card on your wastepile your turn ends, even if there was actually a place to play it.

LOADING: YOU may build available cards not only upon the base cards (center) and the building piles, but also upon your opponent's reserve card and his wastepile: this is called loading him. On his cards, you must build in suit and sequence, but the sequence may go up or down or both ways, as you please. For example, if his reserve card is a 0 J you may move an available 0 10 upon it. Should you then turn your own 0 J from your stock, you can put it on the 0 10.

There is no use in loading your opponent from the building piles alone, for he can build the cards right back when his turn comes. But if you can cover such cards with one from your stock or reserve, splendid!—for you. You have got rid of some cards and have loaded him with some more to get rid of.

STOPPING: If a player violates any of the foregoing rules of order, his opponent may call "Stop!" If the error is proved, the offender's turn ends.
In very strict play, you can be stopped if you so much as touch a card when you should move another one first. But you know how it is—we often touch cards merely intending to arrange them but forgetting to say "I arrange." A fairer rule is that a stop may not be called until a player has actually picked up a wrong card.

END OF PLAY: When a player's stock is exhausted, he must immediately turn his wastepile over to form a new stock. When his reserve is exhausted, he continues without a re¬serve, playing from his stock.

The first to get rid of his entire reserve and stock wins the game. He scores 30 points for winning, plus 2 points for each card left in his opponent's reserve and 1 point for each card in his stock and wastepile.

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