Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (12 page)

Build tableau piles in descending rank and in alternating color. In the example above, you may play J of hearts or J of diamonds on Q of clubs; 7 of spades or 7 of clubs on 8 of diamonds; etc. You may also move groups of cards among the tableau piles as long as you meet the color and ranking requirements.

When a tableau slot is empty, fill it with a card from the reserve or (if the reserve is empty) with a stock card. There’s no rush to fill a vacant slot immediately, so take your time and choose wisely.

When you run out of legal moves, turn up a card from the stock and play it either to the foundations or tableau, or place it face up in a waste pile. You’re always allowed to play the topmost waste card to the foundations or tableau.

In Duchess, you are allowed to redeal just once, by picking up the waste pile and turning it over (do not shuffle).

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   low
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   short
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

Eight Off moves quickly and has very high odds of winning (about 2 in every 3 games). This makes it an excellent antidote to this chapter’s more bruising and difficult Solitaire games.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal eight tableau piles (six cards each), all face up so that all cards are visible from the start. The remaining four cards are set aside, face up, as the first four of eight total reserve piles.

WINNING
Build four foundation piles by suit in ascending rank from ace to king.

HOW TO PLAY
The topmost tableau cards may always be played. You may build on tableau piles by suit, in descending rank. Otherwise, move aces to the foundations as they become available. You also may move the topmost tableau cards to a reserve slot, as long as you never have more than eight cards total in reserve.

Play reserve cards to a foundation or tableau pile whenever you see fit. However, each reserve pile may contain only one card at a time. Eight Off has neither stock cards nor redeals. If you can’t move, call it quits and deal a new hand.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   medium
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   short
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

Flower Garden is not as easy as it looks. Although you may play any of the sixteen reserve cards at any time, this does not mean you’ll win frequently (more like 1 in 20 games, if you’re lucky).

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal six tableau piles of six cards each, all face up and visible. The remaining sixteen cards are your reserve; lay them out in a single horizontal row, all face up and visible.

WINNING
Build four foundation piles by suit, in ascending rank from ace to king.

HOW TO PLAY
Flower Garden is unique in Solitaire because you may play any card in the reserve at any time. The trick is that you may not move cards from the tableau to the reserve; you may play cards only from the reserve to the tableau or foundations.

All other rules are straightforward. Build tableau piles in descending rank (suits and colors do not matter), and play the topmost tableau cards either to the foundations or another tableau pile. There is no stock and no redeal. The game is over once you’re out of moves.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   medium
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   short
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

Fortress is the ultimate WYSIWYG game—what you see is what you get. All cards are dealt to the tableau, leaving little room for error. Fortress is related to games like Forty Thieves and Chessboard, so if Fortress is your kind of game, now you know where to turn for your next Solitaire fix. The odds of winning are 1 in every 11 hands.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal two piles with six cards each (all face up), then eight more piles of five cards each (also face up). These are your ten tableau piles. There is no stock or reserve in Fortress.

WINNING
Build four foundations by suit in ascending rank from ace to king.

HOW TO PLAY
Move aces up to the foundations as they become available. The topmost tableau cards may always be played to the foundations or another tableau pile.

Fortress’s unique feature is the ability to build tableau piles either up or down by suit. And it is OK if adjacent piles are built in different directions. The only limitation is that just one card at a time may be moved from pile to pile; you
may not
move cards in groups or sets. Whenever a tableau slot is vacant, fill it with the top card from any other tableau pile.

VARIATION: CHESSBOARD

Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal two piles with six cards each and eight piles with five cards each (ten total piles).

As in Fortress, you may play the topmost tableau cards at any time. However, your first move is to nominate the rank of your foundations—unlike other Solitaire games where this is fixed, in Chessboard you select a foundation
“starter card” from any of the ten face-up cards in your tableau. Go ahead and move your card of choice up to the foundation area. Do the same with the other three cards of equal rank as they become available (e.g., if you select 7 of hearts as the first foundation card, move up the 7 of diamonds, 7 of clubs, and 7 of spades as they become available).