Archive for category Solitaire
How to Play Backgammon Tourneys -3
Posted by oscar in Backgammon, Board Games, Mancala, Solitaire on January 19th, 2009
Backgammon tournament match length
The longer the match lasts the more likely the stronger player is to win as he/she has time to recover from a setback. For example losing a doubled gammon (4 points) in a match to 17 points is unfortunate but not nearly so unfortunate as losing 4 points in a match to 5 points! The early rounds of the World Championships (held at Monte Carlo each July) are played to 13 points. With each round the matches get longer and the final is played to 25 points.
Usually the better player will come out on top over such a long match but that is not always the case and backgammon tournaments are littered with examples of heavy favourites losing to rank outsiders. That is both the beauty and the frustration of backgammon. As long as dice are involved there will always be outrageous swings of fortune – and correctly so. Without such swings the game would rapidly lose its appeal to players.
A different format which was used in the (now defunct) World Cup was to play best-of-five 9 point matches. This enabled those players with highly developed match play skills to beat lesser players and thus the format is a much better test of player ability.
Time Clocks
To allow tournaments to run on schedule we are seeing the use of clocks more and more. We will look at the whole topic of time and clocks in a future article. For now suffice it to say that each player has a number of minutes for his match (determined by the length of the match). For each move he is allowed so many seconds (normally about 15) to make his move and only after those 15 seconds is the time used deducted from his allowed time.
As with playing chess if you run out of time you lose the match. This can lead to some interesting tactics towards the end of matches. As an example, a player whose opponent is very short on time will try to play a complicated games with a large number of moves in order to use up all of his opponent’s remaining time.
Conclusion
Tournament play is the ultimate in backgammon. Good money players don’t always make good tournament players. The opposite is also true because some players who excel in tournaments can’t cope with the financial pressures of high stakes money play (particularly chouettes).
To once again state the key point – the score dominates all other aspects of tournament play and as we progress we will see just what an influence that can have on play and doubling decisions.
Places Where Solitaire can be Played Online and Offline
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 14th, 2009
Not going too far, but solitaire is easily available on your Microsoft Windows personal computer system. Microsoft Windows enabled systems offer many kinds of solitaires like the Klondike, the Spider Solitaire and Free Cell.
You just have to click on the Start Menu, click all Programs, Go to games and Click on Solitaire. The game provided you with help and you can go through the method of playing. It also helps you with any difficulty using the computer system.
Even if you are not well versed with the use of computers, you can still play this game very conveniently. You will not even require the use of internet as this game is available offline itself.
You can play this game online on the website www.worldofsolitaire.com. This website is very self explanatory. The layout is eye-catching. As you put the cursor on the faced up cards, the name of the card is displayed automatically.
This makes the game very easy for beginners. The game generates a stack count and the card count on one side so that the player does not have to calculate it manually. You can change the background and the deck according to your choice and visibility.
You can also play this game at http://freecell-solitaire.freeonlinegames.com
You can also find many other card games on this website. You can play over five hundred solitaire games in a package called Pretty Good Solitaire.
Pretty Good Solitaire
This package is available for Windows Personal computer systems. This package also provides solitaires in their original form which is very hard to find in today’s time. You can also enjoy other games like Diplomat, Cruel, Gaps, Pyramid, Demons and Thieves, aces and Kings and Double free cell.
This package has solitaires of all levels. You can find extreme challenges for experts and easy challenges for beginners. The games are very explanatory.
The help is designed in such a way so that you find no problems in interpreting the rules of various games. The functions are carried out with the help of simple mouse clicks. The graphics are extra ordinary and they spice up your game to a great extent.
You just have to drag and drop the cards. The undo and redo operations are very flexible. If you are bored of playing the conventional solitaire, this is the package for you. Pretty Good Solitaire offers you a whole new world of card games.
And now comes the best part about this package: the Pretty Good Solitaire wizard helps you to design your own solitaire game. You can set your own level of difficulty.
You can download the thirty day trial version of this game. Version 12.0.1 is the latest version of this game package. This game package is safe to download. You can order this online. After trying the trial version, you can use your registration code to order. If you want a CD of this game, you might be charged delivery charges .
There is also a money back guarantee if you don’t like the game package. Once you have purchased a version of this game, you can download free upgraded versions for years to come.
Solitaire Tips, Strategies and Techniques for Experienced Players
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 14th, 2009
Tip 1: Never take the game lightly
It is general tendency of many experienced players. But one should never take the game for granted at any point in time. It may happen that even after every thing seemed under control, one odd card gets stuck and you have no other card available to open the other card.
Tip 2: Never Redeal
If you are an experienced player, you should avoid redealing. Normally what happens is that experienced player have farther vision than newer players and they can assess the situation better. Therefore, when they realize that the game is going to hang in future, they quickly redeal the game to avoid any future jam.
If you think your game ids going no where, redealing is no solution. Continue with your game. Face the problems and try to crack the game under pressure circumstances. Only then, will you be able to realize that you are an expert player now. Redealing is only allowed for beginners who have no experience.
Tip 3: Understand the importance of various moves
Always try to make moves that work towards exposing the hidden or faced down cards. Don’t clear the tableau piles unnecessarily. Create an empty space only if you have kings waiting. In fact a waiting king is also not that important.
If your waiting king can expose any hidden card then create an empty space for it without ant thought. If you have aces waiting, move them without doubt. As such aces do not help you in making sorted queues. Aces are only used to expose cards and then they should be sent to their respective foundations immediately.
Have patience to control your moves. Hold till any card is important to you. Every card can make a difference to your game. The best move is one that can help you render a hidden card.
Tip 4: Fill the foundation when ever appropriate
If you get an occasion to free a downcard from a waiting queue to the foundation, do it immediately. But do test out for one thing; the card you mean to free should not be supportive to you in opening other important cards. If there is uncertainty, check for the intensity of the situation. Look what is essential for your game.
Tip 5: Filling the empty tableau pile
If you have a choice of king to fill an empty tableau pile, judge the situation of the game. If a black queen is required to open a hidden card, you should always fill the space with a red king. Try and find out the color of the blocking cards first.
Similarly if you have a black jack waiting to open a number of hidden cards, you should always move a black king to fill the space and wait for the red queen after that. In fact these days playing the game of solitaire has become very easy.
Microsoft windows have a feature called undo. Proficient players can undo their action immediately if they feel something has gone wrong with their move.
Solitaire Tips for Beginners
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 14th, 2009
If you are a beginner in this game, make sure that you go through all the rules and regulations carefully. Getting started with the game will call for some good tips and guidelines. If you follow these tips meticulously, you will soon master the game.
Tip 1: Occupy yourself in the game as much as you can
The means to accomplishment in the game of solitaire is “practice and application”. Normally you tend to learn a game and then practice but things are a little different over here. In solitaire, the more you practice, the better you tend to learn. You can do this practice when ever you are free.
You can put into practice using the internet. Use online forums for solitaire and find out places where you can get to take part in this game. You can also play with the computer with Microsoft Windows. But these games can get cyclic after a certain point in time.
Tip 2: Scrutinize the deck of cards
You should first open the first card of the deck. This will help you know the scope of all the possible moves in the game. You can then make better choices for further moves.
Tip 3: Aces should be moved quickly
This is a very significant tip which one needs to bear in mind. When ever you begin with your game, you should attempt and try to find all the aces obtainable to you.
An ace is the first card to start you deck in a sorted order. Arranging an ace in your sorted deck also makes no difference to the available queues. As such aces can not help any further card to come under them.
For example if you have a queen as an open card in your queue, you have the possibility of arranging a jack under it. But Aces do not solve this problem. Therefore you should remove the complexity of the game by putting them in the deck of sorted cards to trigger your game.
Tip 4: Each tableau pile is important
Many beginners tend to take tableau piles lightly. Tableau piles are large in number. Therefore people think if any move goes wrong, they can always adjust it in another tableau piles.
For example a very common mistake made by many people is emptying the tableau pile for no reason. But that’s not right in all cases. Clearing a tableau pile e can be risky. If you let the card be at its place, until it is of no value for the game, it can be of assistance to you in order to open more cards and create a queue of sorted cards. You should clear a tableau pile only in one situation i.e. a king is waiting right away to take that spot to open more cards and form sorted queues.
Tip 5: Don’t fear
Don’t lose your heart if you lose a few games. Initially you will face problems. It might happen that you lose a series of consecutive games. But it will make you learn from your mistakes.
Solitaire Book Reviews
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 14th, 2009
While talking about Solitaire books, the very first name that comes to my mind is that of the “Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience Games”, written by Albert .H. Moorehead.
The book is immaculately written and well crafted- so much so that it is also called the “bible of patience games” by many people. The book serves as a great reference for new players as well as for some of the more seasoned players.
There is always something new that a player of card games would discover in the book. The book has detailed description of over 225 card games including the terminologies, game-play and even the odds of winning the games in certain conditions.
If the complete book on Solitaire was the bible of patience games, then “Hoyle’s Modern Encyclopedia of Card Games: Rules of All the Basic Games and Popular Variations” is literally the encyclopedia of card games, especially Solitaire.
Hoyle's Encyclopedia
The book is lucid in its style and is an exhaustive testament of all that is to card games in general, and solitaire in particular. The game highlights strategies, rules, history and general introduction of various card games and Walter B Gibson, the author of the book (he has re-edited the book) has tried to put life into all the facts, figures and details with utmost caution.
Apart from these two books, there are some shorter titles covering some (only limited) of the most popular versions of Solitaire games. “150 Solitaire games” by Douglas Brown is one such book that has something in it for even the best of Solitaire players in the world today.
150 Solitaire Games
Since Solitaire is mostly a single user game, players often feel the need of a change. The book explores the various ways in which Solitaire can be modified to suit different gaming needs and difficulty levels. The book is organized according to the way and difficulty levels of the various games listed within the book.
The book could have been organized better and the format could have been a bit more clear, but overall, the book is a great companion for those seeking some adventure and new ideas in the way Solitaire is played.
Another great book that showcases a selection of some of the best and most popular solitaire games is “100 Best Solitaire Games” written by Sloane Lee.
100 Best Solitaire Games
This game is a great testament of some of the most popular and intriguing solitaire games of all time. Numerous diagrams, figures, translations and illustrations add the much needed substance to the content and keep the interest of the reader alive. The liveliness of the book is one of the main reasons for the unprecedented success that it has seen over the years.
Finally, “The Complete Book of Solitaire” by Pierre Crapeau is the ultimate book to have if you are a seasoned solitaire player and need a book for the purpose of reference.
Complete Book of Solitaire
The book brings about many use cases and scenarios and also provides solutions to some of the most common but intriguing problems that one might have to face while plating Solitaire.
Introduction for Beginners
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 12th, 2009
Understanding the cards
As beginners you will have to understand the basics of a card game. To understand solitaire, you should first be able to understand the use and value of each and every card in the deck. The cards are divided into 4 different sets.
A sum total of 52 cards are divided into 4 sets of 13 cards each. Each of these sets is clubs, hearts, spades and diamonds. Hearts and diamonds are always colored in red color whereas clubs and spades are colored black only.
13 cards in each set have different values. These values vary from aces to kings. Therefore for each value you will find 4 cards of different set each. For example, you have 4 aces in total i.e. an ace of diamonds, an ace of clubs, an ace of spades and an ace of hearts.
Understanding the setup of the game
There is only one number of decks. The tableau (as explained above) is formed with seven stacks. The first stack is easiest to crack. This is because the first stack contains only one card that is hidden. The second stack contains 2 cards, the third contains 2 card s and it goes on like this till the seventh stack.
The outer most card of each stack is open or face up. The rest of the cards are hidden or face down. Therefore 24 cards are hidden or face down. Your goal is arrange the cards into 4 sets in ascending order from aces to kings. The order goes like A- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9-10- J- Q- K. you have to make four such sets each for hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds.
After you have understood the basics of the card game and its set up, you should go through the terminologies used (already explained) and the rules and regulations about the game. As beginners it is advisable to start with Klondike Solitaire first.
You should then move on to other solitaire games. Free cell and other solitaire games are a little difficult in comparison to this solitaire. You can crack this game with a little practice and perseverance. You can follow two approaches. You should try to break the long stacks of hidden cards to simplify this game.
The seventh stack contains six hidden cards. You should target at simplifying it as quickly as possible. These hidden cards can create problems at later stages in your game. On the other hand, it can consume a lot of time.
It may happen that a king is ready to be used. In such scenario you should first try to target shorter stacks. This will create free spots in your playing space. Therefore your kings which were waiting to occupy spaces can be utilized. You will have to use a balance between these strategies.
If you act patiently, no one stop you from mastering this game. After you have practiced enough, you can skip to the other level of the game. This is known as double Klondike i.e. playing two cards at a time.
Variations in Solitaire
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 12th, 2009
This game has been modified from time to time. Various variations have been introduced in the game of solitaire. These variations were made to make the game more interesting, sometimes easier, at other times younger than ever. Little changes spiced up the game from time to time. Let us introduce you to some of the variations introduced in this game.
The Whitehead- This game is quite near to conventional Klondike. After the deal, all the twenty eight cards put faced up. The foundation starts with the twenty ninth card of the deck. In fact all the foundation sets start with the same value. The cards are played one at a time from the deck. But in the tableaus, cards can be moved as sequences. If there is any free space created in the tableau, it can be filled with any card. In conventional Klondike only the kings are allowed to take an empty space. A sequence starting with the kings can also fill this space.
Thumb and pouch – this game is also very similar to conventional Klondike. The only difference is that the tableau piles are not necessarily in different colors. The alternating cards should be in different suits only. Any card can be moved to a free space unlike the Klondike in which only the king can move to the free space. You can move any number of sequences in to the free space or spot unlike the free cell in which the length of the sequence id dependent on the number of free cells available.
Double Klondike- now this is an interesting variation in Klondike solitaire. It makes use of two decks and eight foundations. Klondike makes use of four foundations. Klondike has 7 tableau piles whereas the double Klondike has 9 tableau piles. The cards are pulled three at a time. The deal is made in similar manner.
Your goal is arrange the cards into 8 foundations in ascending order from aces to kings. The order goes like A- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9-10- J- Q- K. you have to make eight such sets each for hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds.
The layout of the game is also similar to the Klondike solitaire. This Klondike solitaire offers a great feature of redeals. You can make unlimited number of redeals in this game.
You will have to open the face down cards in the tableaus. Te cards move in the similar fashion. The colors of alternating cards are opposite. A black queen of club can be put under a red king of diamond or hearts. If the pile becomes empty, you can redeal any number of times.
This game won’t take you more than ten to twelve minutes. Therefore this game cannot come to a deadlock situation where you can make no move. You can always redeal in order to crack your game.
Game variations can make the game interesting. Just have patience. Don’t waste your cards by sending them to the foundation zone. These cards might be helpful to you.
Recent Updates on Solitaire
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 12th, 2009
Solitaire has been improving from time to time. This traditional game was first introduced by the Microsoft Windows. Since then, the game has gained global popularity. Gradually people had started to ask for more and improved versions of this game. This game has provided many recent updates.
A new version of this game named as Pretty Good Solitaire has been launched in the market. The Pretty Good Solitaire has introduced two versions of this game i.e. Pretty Good Solitaire v10.3.0 and Pretty Good Solitaire v10.3.1. The 10.3.0 has thirty new games with improved features.
The Pretty Good Solitaire version 10.2 is great. It adds additional nine games. The total reaches to more than a six hundred games now. This new version includes games like the gold mine, the Pumpkin, the Robie, the Long tail etc. The Pretty Good Mah Jongg v2.2 is also a new addition to the solitaire family of games. The version 2.2 adds forty new games to this set. The layouts are great. This game has some fabulous changes. The elimination rules are very interesting.
This version can be easily downloaded from the internet. The trial version is available for free. Download the trial version of this game and you will love playing it.
If you have already purchased any older version of this game, then this new version 2.2 is obtainable at no costs. You can have this game for free. You will just have to verify your registration code with the vendor. Now you can not miss this one!
Action Solitaire
If you are a follower of the action solitaire series then there is good news for you. Anew version of this game has been launched recently. This version is action Solitaire 1.1 and it contains 18 new games. It could not get better than this!
The newer version contains wonderful games like the thieves of Egypt, the Scorpion, the Sea towers, the Russian Solitaire, the Penguin, the Eight Off, the Osmosis, the Lady Jane, the forty thieves, Double Klondike, the Demon and Thieves, the Cruel, the Australian Patience, the Beleaguered Castle and the Kings and aces. Could you even ask for more!
This game version is extremely interesting and different from conventional solitaire. The game has time limits to make it more thrilling. The timer drives you crazy at the end of each round. Because the game is divided into round, the score of each and every round matters.
Try and score the maximum you can in the initial few levels. The game gets tougher. You can also connect to the network to submit your scores.
This game is available on the internet. If you are a registered user, you will have no problems buying it. You just need to download the trial version of this game and use your registration code.
Little changes have not changed the basic concept of this game. The game is equally interesting. You can also play this game with the deck of cards manually. But if you play it on your personal computer, the deal becomes easier.
FAQs About Solitaire
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 12th, 2009
The most popular or common queries about the game of solitaire are listed below. You can read these and learn from other people’s queries.
Q- What are the different kinds of solitaire games we can play?
A- Solitaire can be molded in to multiple versions by making small changes. However there are some very popular solitaire games played by millions of people across the world. And some these are stated below
1. Klondike Solitaire – This is the most popular version of Solitaire. The reason for its popularity is simple. The game is available on all the versions of Microsoft Windows systems, phones, i-pods, notebooks and Personal computers.
The game is comparatively easier to understand even. It is so popular that a lot of people think that there is only one version of solitaire and i.e. the Klondike solitaire. People don’t even realize that there are other solitaire games available these days. It is an extremely popular game, which can be enjoyed by anybody in the family.
2. Spider solitaire – it is the most popular two deck card game solitaire. This game too is very popular. Spider solitaire is also available on Microsoft Windows. This accounts for the recognition of the game world wide.
3. Free Cell Solitaire – it is an extremely interesting solitaire game. This game was first introduced in Microsoft windows version 95. Now this holds the second position in the world of solitaires.
This game needs a lot of patience. With the use of free cells, the game allows restrictive movement of the stack of cards. This makes the game tremendously interesting and challenging.
4. Tripeaks – this game could not gain popularity among masses. Nevertheless the game is enjoyed by many who understand this game. It makes use the bar code machines with simple rules.
5. Canfield also known as demon – this is one of the most difficult versions of solitaires to win. The rules are simple to understand but the strategy making is tough.
6. Cruel – this game is not so popular. But it is quite entertaining.
Q- How is free cell solitaire different form conventional solitaire game?
A- Free cell is a highly addictive game. It requires a little more skill than normal solitaire. You must be wondering why! This is because the availability of free cells decides the number of cards you can move at a time. This restricts your freedom of moving as many cards as possible in one move.
The game becomes more challenging. The number of free cells you utilize, you end up making your game more difficult for you. Therefore, your chances of cracking this game are completely dependent on your skill, practice and thoughtfulness.
Q- What is spider solitaire?
Spider solitaire is a popular version of solitaire. It might seem difficult in the beginning, but you will realize that spider solitaire is rather an easier version of all the solitaires. This is the reason for its popularity among masses. It is generally known as the king of solitaires for that reason.
Terms and Terminologies
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 12th, 2009
Before beginning with the rules of this game, it is very significant that you understand all the typical terms and terminologies of the game. Even the rules and regulations make use of typical words which are difficult to comprehend with out the knowledge of basic terms and terminologies.
Let’s now take a quick look at all the basic terms used in the game of solitaire.
Deck of cards – This is the most important term used in solitaire. After all the entire game revolves around the deck only! The deck is a pile of cards used to maintain the left over. These are useful in making layout spaces. This is generally done on by one. But it depends upon the game.
Waste – This is the space where the game is actually played. Don’t be misguided by the name, the waste is actually not a waste in the game, it is rather very useful. The deck is brought into the waste, one by one. The upper visible card can be moved or played. You can only move the cards from the deck to the waste in order to play. The vice versa movement is not allowed.
Reserve –These cards are dealt with, right in the beginning only. The cards are also used one at a time. You can’t build on your reserve. These play a very important role in the game.
Tableau –Here the cards can move from one are to the other. Not every card is movable. There are certain rules and regulation under which the cards move in a tableau. Sometimes you will be able to move only one card. In some other situation, you will be allowed to move the entire stack of cards.
Foundation – Foundations are four in number. Each foundation allows only thirteen cards at a time. From ace to king, these have to be arranged in ascending order only. Usually the game aims at moving your tableau to the foundation.
Cell – Now cell is an important term used in free cell solitaire. It generally not used in convention solitaire game which was used traditionally.
A free cell is an empty space. It is actually used a as buffer. This is known as a management space. You can generally put any card into it. Put your card on hold, in a free cell and plan your game for further moves.
By color –You have to understand that card games generally make use of the varying colors of the cards. In some games, cards can be placed on top of cards which are of same color. Hearts and diamonds are always colored in red color whereas clubs and spades are colored black only.
Some games make use of altering colors i.e. the cards can only be put on top of the opposite color. For example hearts can’t be placed on top of diamond in case of altering colors because these are of the same color.
Build up or Build down – many solitaire games use these terminologies. Building up means card can only be put on top of lower valued cards only and building up means that cards can be put on top of higher values only.
Tips and Strategies
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 12th, 2009
Solitaire is synonymous with patience. Therefore you will need a lot of patience and perseverance to master this game. Rules and regulations are pretty simple to understand. But you will face the real problem when the game will start showing its true colors.
From beginners to hard levels, the variations differ. Basic rules will make you acquainted with the game and you will be able to crack beginner levels. But to crack hard and complicated games, you need to be proficient enough to deal with certain situations. We will tell you about key tricks and strategies to crack this game quickly.
Tip 1: when ever you find an ace, just implement it
This is a very important tip which one needs to keep in mind. When ever you start with your game, you should try and look for all the aces available to you. An ace is the first card to start you deck in assorted order.
Arranging an ace in your sorted deck also makes no difference to the available queues. As such aces can not help any further card to come under them. For example if you have a queen as an open card in your queue, you have the possibility of arranging a jack under it.
But Aces do not solve this problem. Therefore you should remove the complexity of the game by putting them in the deck of sorted cards to trigger your game.
Tip 2: Free a downcard as soon as possible
If you follow this tip accurately, then there is no stopping you from playing this game. Always avoid making long queues of downcards under your hidden cards. This stops the opportunity of opening your hidden cards.
If you get and opportunity to free a downcard from a waiting queue to the deck, do it immediately. But do check for one thing; the card you intend to free should not be helpful to you in opening other important cards. If there is confusion, check for the intensity of the situation. Look what is important for your game.
Tip 3: Choices can sometimes make it difficult
If you ever have a dilemma between two moves, look for the future scope of both the moves.
But the best way out or the finest approach would be freeing the downcard from the longest queue of cards in order to open the opportunity of opening more hidden cards. You could also go the other way but that entirely depends upon the situation of the game.
Tip 4: Clearing a place is not always helpful
Many people have this misconception that freeing a card and clearing a space can help them visualize the game in a better fashion. But that’s not true in all cases. Clearing a space can be harmful.
If you let the card be at its place, until it is worthless for the game, it can help you open more cards and create a queue of sorted cards. You should clear a space only in one situation i.e. a king is waiting immediately to take that spot to open more cards and form sorted queues.
Rules of the Game
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 12th, 2009
Solitaire, which is also known as patience is not no difficult to understand. You will only require going through the rules meticulously and patiently. Normally people don’t crack the game in their first try. It can take you more than one tries to succeed in this game. Lets us make it easier for you.
Rule 1: Understanding the goal of the game
Your ultimate goal in the game of solitaire is to arrange the deck of cards in ascending order. The ascending order goes like A- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9-10- J- Q- K. you have to make four such sets each for hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds.
Rule 2: Understanding the outline
There is only one number of decks. The tableau (as explained above) is bent with seven stacks. The foremost stack is easiest to disclose or empty. This is for the reason that the foremost stack contains simply one card that is concealed.
The second stack contains 2 cards, the third contains 2 card s and it goes on like this till the seventh stack. The outer most card of each stack is open or face up. The rest of the cards are hidden or face down. Therefore 24 cards are hidden or face down.
Rule 3:
The outer most card of each waste pile is geared up for play. Similarly, the outermost card of each tableau is also ready for the play. These cards can either be moved to the foundation setting or any other tableau pile according to the decision of the player.
Moving one card from one tableau pile to another depends upon the rules of the kind of solitaire game you are playing. In Klondike solitaire, you can only move an alternate color card of value one less than the top most faced up card.
You can also move a stack of cards but the rule remains the same. The last card of this stack should be of alternate color and of value one less than the faced up card under which you want to put, in a tableau pile. This way each tableau pile will look like a sequence of alternate color cards.
As already mentioned above, this entire sequence can also be moved from one tableau to another. To move this sequence to a free spot, it is necessary that the last card of this sequence is a king. Therefore an empty space can only be filled with a sequence starting with a king, rather it should be put as; the sequence is filled with a king only.
Your target is to fill all the foundations. It may happen that you are stuck up in such a situation when no moves are available and you can not even revert back any of your move. In such a situation the game comes to an end.
To start, you can use the backtracking approach to understand your mistakes. This may not be possible in the computerized version of your solitaire. Play manually with cards to understand your mistakes. If you are using a computer you will have to restart your game.
History and General Introduction
Posted by oscar in Card Games, Solitaire on January 12th, 2009
Solitaire is a popular card game, once known as patience. It is highly admired because of the reason that it is a single player game. You don’t need a partner to play this game.
So if you are single, lonely or vexed, just switch on your computer to get a company. It is the best way to kill isolation out of your life. British used to call this game as patience.
The name it self is very self explanatory. This game needs to be played with a lot of patience and perseverance. Solitaire means single and lonely and so is this game.
With time patience got converted into solitaire in American English. And now, solitaire is one of the most liked and played games in Microsoft Windows.
But there are many theories related to the origin of this game. Many people say that solitaire is basically a French innovation. The game is closely related to French literature. This game has a reflection of French culture in its nomenclature.
This game was first played in Europe with the name patience. In fact, many people still call it patience in France. The use of terms like napoleon square (you will learn about these in the terms and terminologies of solitaire) are named after the powerful French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte. Who doesn’t know this man!
The French ruler had immense passion for this game, especially when he was put in exile. The French connection is not just manifested by this French ruler. The President Franklin Roosevelt too loved playing this game.
And now, the world is playing this game via notebooks, Personal computer systems and windows enabled mobile systems. To determine who discovered this game exactly is quite tough. But to analyze the popularity of this game is simple.
This game has gained unexpected recognition with the growth of windows computers. But there are a lot of people who still like to play this game in their old conventional way with the use of a deck of cards. This game has never been linked with betting and speculation. It is a reputed game and anybody can play it to have fun.
The game is not so complicated to understand. It is a simple card game that requires skill, planning, patience and thoughtfulness. You don’t need to organize special meetings or join any solitaire clubs similar to many other games like chess.
All you need to have is a windows enabled system. Many people have this misconception that this game requires pre-requisites like other card games. That’s absolutely incorrect. Neither do you require any card knowledge, nor do you need to have any sort of experience with other card games.
You just need to make up your mind, learn this game and enjoy it when ever you want to play it. Go through the rules and terminologies meticulously. You will understand them in no time. It can take you a number of tries before you crack a game, but don’t lose heart. This game is fun.
Oscar
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