Klondike Solitaire

01Game presentation

The Klondike is the success that many people simply call "the Solitaire". You play alone and try to put the cards back in order. You can choose your moves, but not the cards that will appear.

The variant of this chapter returns one card at a time. You can take back the reserve as many times as necessary. You can also go down a card from a foundation to the columns if it is legally placed. We do not count points or time. The three-card version and the versions with limited passages are different.

02Equipment requirements

• 1 classic package of 52 cards: 13 cards in each of the 4 signs, without joker.
• 1 table leaving room for 7 columns and, above, the reserve, the waste and the 4 foundations.

The signs are heart, tile, pike and clover. Heart and tile are red; pike and clover are black. The order is as, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, valet, lady, king. On some packages, the letters V, D, R become J, Q, K.

03The purpose of the game

Place the 52 cards in four piles called "foundations". Each foundation contains a single sign and climbs from the ace to the king. The game is won when all cards are placed there.

04Preparing the game

1. Remove the jokers and mix the 52 cards well.
2. Make 7 columns from left to right. The first contains 1 card, the second 2, then 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. This uses 28 cards.
3. In each column, only the last card, the one at the bottom of the drawing and on the top of the stack, is visible. The others are hidden face. Take them down a little to see how many are left.
4. Place the remaining 24 cards on the top left side: this is the reserve.
5. Keep an empty space next door for the waste, where the cards returned from the reserve arrive. Also provide for four empty spaces for the foundations.

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05How to play?

Move to Columns

In each column, build down one rank at a time, alternating red and black. A black 8 can take a red 7. A red 8 cannot take a red 7, and a black 9 cannot take a red 7 directly.

You can move the last face-up card of a column or a face-up sequence that is already in the right order. For example, a black 9, red 8 and black 7 can go on a red 10. Move the whole sequence without changing the order. To move a sequence beginning at a face-up card, include every card below it in the layout.

When you release the last hidden card from a column, turn it back immediately. You can't look at or move the hidden cards until you've cleared them.

A completely empty column can only receive a king, alone or with his suit properly ordered. You can't put an ace or a 6 to help you.

Building foundations

An empty foundation begins with an ace. Then come the 2nd of the same sign, then the 3, and so on to the king. Here, the signs count: a 2 of tile does not go on an ace of heart.

You can place the last free card in a column or the card on top of the waste. You only move one card at a time to a foundation. In the chosen variant, the card on top of a foundation can return to a column if it respects the descent and alternating colors.

Use reserve and waste

When you wish, return the first card of the reserve to the waste. It becomes the accessible card. You can play it on a column or foundation, or leave it there and return the next one.

Only the top card of the waste is available. If you play it, the card that was under it becomes available in turn. Do not take a card buried simply because you see it.

When the reserve is empty, turn all the waste face hidden to redo the reserve. Do not mix and change the order. You can start over as many times as you want. An identical passage without change does not create any new possibility.

06An example of a game

You see a 9 of clover in one column and a 8 of heart at the end of another. You put the 8 of heart on the 9 of clover: the value goes down by one and the colors alternate. This move releases a hidden card; you turn it over. It's the ace of spades: you start the foundation of spades.

You then turn a 2 of spade from the reserve towards the waste. You can immediately put it on the ace of spade. Then a 7 of clover appears on the waste: you place it on the 8 of heart. You now have the suite 9 of clover, 8 of heart, 7 of clover.

If you later reveal the 10 of diamonds, you can move these three cards together onto that red 10. The black 9 goes directly onto the 10. The rest stay in order.

Suppose a column becomes empty, but your only king is still under a lady in the waste. You cannot extract it. You will have to play the lady if possible, or advance the reserve to regain access to the king during another passage.

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07How can I win?

You win when the four foundations go from ace to king: the 52 cards are there. Having returned all the hidden cards is not enough, even if the end often becomes easy.

The game is lost if you no longer have a way to achieve this goal: no useful travel and no reserve passage opens a new possibility. Movements that simply break each other can run in loops without helping. You can then mix for a new game.

A random distribution is not always winable. There is no equality or points to be divided in this variant: only a successful achievement or a cut-off.

08Errors to avoid

• Consolidate columns and foundations: columns descend by alternating colors; foundations mount in the same sign.
• Take a card in the middle of the waste: only the top is accessible.
• Return a hidden card that is still covered: clear it first.
• Fill an empty column with anything: you need a king.
• Mix the waste by reforming the reserve: returns the package from a single block.

09Tips for starting

When two shots are possible, look at which one discovers a hidden card. Try to release the thickest columns. Do not empty a column without looking if a king will soon be able to occupy it.

Allowable movement is not always useful. Before you mount a high card as a foundation, check if it could still be used as a support in a column. The return of foundations is allowed here, but it is better to know why you do it.