Solitaire Rules

Equipment

Classic solitaire (Klondike) is played with a standard 52-card deck. No jokers are used.

Initial Layout

The game begins with 28 cards dealt into seven tableau columns:

• First column: 1 card, face-up
• Second column: 2 cards (top face-up)
• Third column: 3 cards (top face-up)
• Fourth column: 4 cards (top face-up)
• Fifth column: 5 cards (top face-up)
• Sixth column: 6 cards (top face-up)
• Seventh column: 7 cards (top face-up)

The remaining 24 cards form the stock pile, placed face-down. Four foundation piles start empty above the tableau.

Card Movement Rules

Tableau Rules

• Build tableau columns in descending order (King to Ace)
• Cards must alternate colors: red (hearts, diamonds) on black (clubs, spades) and vice versa
• You may move a face-up card or a sequence of face-up cards to another column
• Only a King (or a sequence starting with a King) may be placed in an empty tableau column
• When a face-down card is uncovered, it is automatically turned face-up

Foundation Rules

• Each foundation pile represents one suit
• Foundations must be built in ascending order: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King
• All cards in a foundation must be the same suit
• You may move cards from foundations back to the tableau if needed

Stock and Waste Rules

• Turn over cards from the stock pile one at a time (or three at a time in some variants)
• Turned cards go to the waste pile
• The top card of the waste pile is available for play
• When the stock is empty, you may reset it by turning the waste pile over

Winning Condition

The game is won when all 52 cards are moved to the four foundation piles, with each foundation containing 13 cards in sequence from Ace to King in the same suit.

Game Over

The game ends when no more legal moves are possible. This occurs when:

• No cards can be moved from the tableau
• No cards can be moved to foundations
• The stock and waste piles are exhausted with no available moves