Klondike is the most well-known form of solitaire. Klondike is a Solitaire Card game. Many people refer to Klondike as "solitaire"

Solitaire also called patience is any of a family of single-player card games of a generally similar character, but varying greatly in detail. A card game is any Game using Playing cards either traditional or game-specific The games are generally referred to as "patience" in British English and "solitaire" in American English, although "solitaire" is gaining popularity in British English due to the game in Windows. British English or UK English ( BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology. Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft.

These games typically involve dealing cards from a shuffled deck into a prescribed arrangement on a tabletop, from which the player attempts to reorder the deck by suit and rank through a series of moves transferring cards from one place to another under prescribed restrictions. Some games allow for the reshuffling of the deck(s), and/or the placement of cards into new or "empty" locations.

Solitaire has its own terminology; see solitaire terminology. There are a number of common features in many Solitaire (patience games such as 'building down' and the 'foundations' and 'tableau' used to simplify the description of new games

There are many different solitaire games, but the term "solitaire" is often used to refer specifically to the most well-known form, called "Klondike". Klondike is a Solitaire Card game. Many people refer to Klondike as "solitaire" Klondike and some other solitaire games have been adapted into two-player competitive games.

There is a vast array of variations on the solitaire/patience theme, using either one or more decks of cards, with rules of varying complexity and skill levels. Many of these have been converted to electronic form and are available as computer games. A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather Basic forms of Klondike solitaire and FreeCell come with every current installation of Microsoft Windows, for example, and Windows Me, Windows XP and Windows Vista also include a version of Spider. Klondike is a Solitaire Card game. Many people refer to Klondike as "solitaire" FreeCell is a Solitaire Card game played with a 52-card standard deck Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me (IPA pronunciation, iː is a hybrid 16-bit / 32-bit graphical Operating system released on 14 September Windows XP is a family of 32-bit and 64-bit Operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and Windows Vista (ˈvɪstə is a line of Operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and business desktops Spider is a type of Solitaire Card game. It is one of the more popular two-deck solitaire games A solitaire game is included on all of Apple's iPods (with the exception of the iPod Touch). Apple Inc, ( formerly Apple Computer Inc, is an American Multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing Consumer electronics iPod is a popular brand of Portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Inc Many software solitaire collections can be downloaded from the internet at no charge.

The term 'solitaire' is also used for single-player games of concentration and skill using a set layout of tiles, pegs or stones rather than cards. A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as Ceramic, stone, metal or even Glass. These games include:

• Peg solitaire
• Shanghai solitaire

History

Like the origin of playing cards, the origin of solitaire is largely unknown as there are no historical records to support it. Peg solitaire is a Board game for one player involving movement of pegs on a board with holes Mahjong solitaire is a Solitaire matching game that uses a set of Mahjong tiles rather than cards. A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper thin card or thin plastic figured with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing Card games Some scholars think these kinds of games are largely French in origin as early English language books about patience games refer to French literature, as can be seen in the names of some games in English books such as La Belle Lucie, Le Cadran, Le Loi Salique, La Nivernaise and others. ♦ ♥ ♣ ♠--> La Belle Lucie is a Solitaire game where the Forty Thieves is a Solitaire Card game. It is quite difficult to win and relies mostly on skill Salic Law is a Solitaire Card game using two decks of 52 Playing cards each Tournament is a Solitaire Card game which uses two decks of Playing cards shuffled together

Napoleon was also said to have "played patience" (solitaire) during his exile. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Some solitaire games were named after him, such as Napoleon at St. Helena, Napoleon's Square, etc. Forty Thieves is a Solitaire Card game. It is quite difficult to win and relies mostly on skill Napoleon's Square is a Solitaire Card game which uses two decks of Playing cards First described by Lady Adelaide Cadogan in the early 1900s But whether he played those games or actually invented them is not known.

The first collection of solitaire card games in the English language is attributed to Lady Adelaide Cadogan through her Illustrated Games of Patience, published in about in 1870 and reprinted several times. Before this, there was no literature about solitaire, not even in such books as Charles Cotton's The Compleat Gamester (1674), Abbé Bellecour's Academie des Jeux (1674), and Bohn's Handbook of Games (1850), all of which are used as reference on card games.

Lady Cadogan's book spawned other collections such as Patience by E. D. Cheney, Amusements for Invalids by Annie B. Henshaw (1870), and later Dick's Games of Patience, published by Dick and Fitzgerald. Dick and Fitzgerald was a 19th century United States Publisher, founded by William Brisbane Dick (1827-1901 and Lawrence R Other books about solitaire written towards the end of the 19th century were by H. E. Jones (a. k. a. Cavendish), Angelo Lewis (a. k. a. Professor Hoffman), Basil Dalton, and Ernest Bergholt.

There are also literary references to solitaire games. Some of these are:

• Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace mentions a scene that took place in 1808 where the characters were playing patience. Leo Tolstoy, or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy ( –) (Лев Никола́евич Толсто́й, was a Russian Writer widely regarded War and Peace (Война и мир Voyna i mir) is a Novel by Leo Tolstoy, first published from 1865 to 1869 in Russkii Vestnik
• In John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, protagonist George Milton often plays Solitaire on the road and on the farm. John Steinbeck III (February 27 1902—December 20 1968 was one of the best-known and most widely read American writers of the 20th century Of Mice and Men is a Novella written by Nobel Prize -winning author John Steinbeck.
• Somerset Maugham's The Gentleman in the Parlour mentions Spider and quotes playing solitaire as "a flippant disposition. William Somerset Maugham, CH ( January 25 1874 &ndash December 16 1965) was an English Playwright, Spider is a type of Solitaire Card game. It is one of the more popular two-deck solitaire games "
• In Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust, a character plays patience while waiting for news of a death to reach London. Arthur Evelyn St John Waugh (ˈiːvlɪn ˈwɔː (28 October 1903 &ndash 10 April 1966 was an English Writer, best known for such darkly humorous and A Handful of Dust is a Novel by Evelyn Waugh published in 1934
• In Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov, the character Grushenka played a solitaire game known as Fools to get through times of crisis. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский, sometimes transliterated Dostoyevsky, Dostoievsky, The Brothers Karamazov (Братья Карамазовы /'bratʲjə karə'mazəvɨ/ is the final Novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky
• In Peter Duck, one of the books in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series, Captain Flint keeps himself occupied by playing Miss Milligan. Peter Duck is a Metafictional book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. Arthur Mitchell Ransome (born 18 January 1884 in Leeds - died 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist Swallows and Amazons is the first book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome and was published in 1930 Miss Milligan is a Solitaire Card game which is played using two decks of Playing cards According to Peter Arnold, author of Card Games

It is also noted that according to Redbook magazine, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a fan of the solitaire game Spider. For other uses see Red Book. Redbook is an American women's magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. Spider is a type of Solitaire Card game. It is one of the more popular two-deck solitaire games

In the 1962 movie The Manchurian Candidate, Raymond Shaw is compelled to perform specific actions through a brainwashing trigger, which often includes a game of traditional solitaire and finding the queen of diamonds. For the novel by Richard Condon, see The Manchurian Candidate. In another 1962 film Dr. No, Bond plays a game of Solitaire inside Miss Taro's house while waiting for Professor Dent to arrive, then kills him after Dent's second assassination plot on Bond fails. Dr No (1962 is the first Film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Sean Connery as British Secret Service agent In the Finnish TV-series Hovimäki Aunt Victoria is very fond of playing solitaire.

Examples of solitaire card games

See: List of solitaire card games

Reference materials

• Lee, Sloane & Packard, Gabriel. This is a list of Solitaire 100 Best Solitaire Games: 100 Ways to Entertain Yourself with a Deck of Cards.  ; New York, N. Y. : Cardoza Publishing, 2004. (ISBN 1-58042-115-6)
• Arnold, Peter. Card Games for One. London: Hamlyn, 2002 (ISBN 0-600-60727-5)
• Moorehead, Albert H. & Mott-Smith, Geoffrey. The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience Games. New York: Bantam Books, 1977 (ISBN 0-553-26240-8)
• Crépeau, Pierre. The Complete Book of Solitaire (a translation of Le Grand Livre des Patiences). Willowdale, Ontario: Firefly Books, 2001. (ISBN 1-55209-597-5)
• Marks, Arnold & Harrod, Jacqueline. Card Games Made Easy. Surrey, England: Clarion, 1997 (ISBN 1-899606-17-3)

See also

• Solitaire terminology
• Mahjong solitaire
• Patience sorting
• Video poker
• Solitaire (Windows)
• Spider Solitaire (Windows)

External links

• Video demonstration a game of solitaire being played and associated commentary.
• Open Directory Project: solitaire
• Lady Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Solitaire or Patience, by Adelaide Cadogan, 1914, from Project Gutenberg
• Games of patience for one or more players, second series, by Mary Whitmore Jones, about 1898, original book-scan from Archive.org
• The Mathematics of Solitaire - a video presentation about the Math behind solitaire