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The rules of the game of solitaire

31.08.2022 11:15

The rules of the game of solitaire

Solitaire is one of the most popular and most difficult card games in the world. To prepare for it, all you need is one basic 52-card French deck or a web browser with access to the electronic version of the game.

Solitaire rules

Before starting the game, carefully shuffle the cards and then arrange them in seven columns. There will then be 24 left in your hand; you need to set them aside as a reserve stack. The top card of each column must remain faceup.

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Rules of solitaire - why are they so important?

The rules of solitaire are very simple - your task is to create four piles of cards on the base fields, arranged from ace to king. The base fields are places to which cards from the previously prepared seven columns and the reserve pile are placed. Each of them is intended for cards of a different suit: hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs. The correct order of cards in the basic variant is A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-JDK.

What is the card positioning rule in solitaire?

When switching cards, it is worth remembering a few rules. Firstly, another card can be placed on the column only if it has a different suit than the face-up card and is one point smaller than it. In practice, this means that, for example, 3 of clubs should land on 4 of diamonds or 4 of hearts, but not on clubs or spades. Then you should add more cards, in this case 2 of diamonds or 2 of hearts.

The rules of solitaire allow you to turn over more than one card. You can move an entire group if all the cards in it are in the order A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-JDK. The highest card must also match the lowest card face up in the target column. For example, a group consisting of the seven of diamonds, the six of clubs, the five of hearts and the four of spades should be placed on a column whose face card is the black eight.

How to play solitaire? After removing a card from a column, the next one must be immediately revealed. This action is performed every time until a given column is exhausted. In such a case, you can insert a king into the empty space and start building the sequence from the beginning. The main rule of solitaire is to create four full stacks of cards of the same suit, arranged in the correct order. Therefore, the construction should always start with an ace and end with a king. It is worth remembering that if necessary, a card placed in the stack can be moved again to any of the columns. However, if there are other options to continue the game, it is better to avoid it.

What is the reserve stack used for in solitaire?

The reserve stack consists of 24 cards and is the last resort when the possibilities of moving cards between columns are completely exhausted. In the basic, most popular variant of the game, using it involves drawing the top three cards, the last of which is placed on a pile or column. The remaining two should be pushed to the bottom of the reserve stack. Even though at this stage the player is not able to directly involve them in the game, he has the opportunity to see their value and thus estimate their future impact on the game.

The rules of solitaire say that if the card shown does not allow you to make any move, you should put all the cards drawn at the bottom of the deck and then draw another three. The entire process can be repeated until you obtain a card that fits into one of the columns or stacks. It is worth remembering that cards from the reserve pile cannot be shuffled during the game.

How to win at solitaire according to the rules?

To achieve victory, four full stacks must be placed on the base squares. Each must contain only cards of the same suit, arranged in the sequence A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-JDK. A failure is considered to be a situation in which a player is unable to move cards further, despite using the reserve pile. To increase the chance of winning, most people decide to arrange all piles and columns evenly, starting from the last one and ending with the seventh longest one. The game has an element of randomness, but the best way to master it is with practice.