Canfield Solitaire

How to play Canfield Solitaire

Canfield is a classic one-deck solitaire with a twist: the foundations don't start with the Aces. The first card dealt to them sets the starting rank for all four, and a pile of thirteen cards called the reserve holds the cards you most need to get into play.

The deal

Thirteen cards make the reserve, at the left, with only its top card showing. One card goes up to start a foundation, and its rank is where all four foundations start: if it's a 7, each suit builds up from its 7. Four cards start the four columns, and the rest wait in the stock.

Moving cards

• Build the foundations up in suit from the starting rank, going round from King to Ace: on a 7 start, a suit runs 7, 8 … Queen, King, Ace, 2 … 6.
• In the columns, build down in alternating colors, also going round, so a King can go on an Ace.
• Move a column's top card, or the whole column at once, but not part of it.
• The reserve's top card can go to a foundation or a column. When a column empties, the reserve's top card fills it straight away. Once the reserve is gone, you can fill an empty column with any card.
• Tap the stock to turn cards onto the waste: three at a time (the classic game) or one at a time (the easier setting). Only the top waste card can be played. When the stock runs out, turn the waste back over, as often as you like.

Winning

You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations. Once the stock, waste and reserve are used up and the rest can simply go up, a Finish the game button plays them up for you.

Tips

• Play the reserve whenever you can. Its cards are buried until you use them, and every one you play brings the next into reach. An empty column is the fastest way to get one out.
• Clear a column by moving it whole. When a column's bottom card fits on another column, move the lot: the empty space fills from the reserve at once.
• Keep the waste moving. Play its top card onto the columns whenever it fits: each one you play brings the next within reach. In our tests, that habit made more difference than any other.
• Don't rush cards up. A card on a foundation can't come back to hold the next one down, so send a card up once both foundations of the other color have reached the rank below it.
• Start with Draw 1. Turning three cards at a time hides two of every three, and the classic game is hard: see the questions below.

Questions

Can every game be won?

Every new and daily game we deal can be. Our program, which knows where every card is, found a win in about half of all random deals turning three at a time, so we only deal games it has won. Even so, the reserve and the stock hide their cards: in our tests, following the Hint button alone won about 4 of these games in 5 turning one card at a time, but only about 1 in 8 turning three.

What does the Hint button do?

It suggests a move: a card up when nothing still needs it, a reserve card into play, a column cleared for the reserve, or the waste's top card onto a column. If no single move helps, it looks a few moves ahead. It never peeks at the reserve's hidden cards, and it plans with the stock only once you've seen all of it. After two passes through the stock without a move, it tells you nothing more can be done.

Where does the name come from?

In America the game took the name of Richard Canfield, who ran a well-known club in Saratoga Springs, New York, in the 1890s. It was first written down in England in 1891, as Demon Patience.

Can I take back a move?

Yes. Undo takes back your moves one at a time, even turning the stock. Your game saves itself after every move.

What is the deal number?

Every deal has a number, and the same number always deals the same cards. Share the link to play the same game as a friend, or try today's deal, which is the same for everyone.