Canfield

Introduction to Canfield

Canfield Solitaire is a card game played using a 52-card deck of standard playing cards. In some countries, it's known as Demon Solitaire.

It's been estimated by running a solver program that about 70% of all possible Canfield Solitaire games are solvable. However, humans don't fare nearly so well.

For randomly generated games, human players win only about 1 in 14. Of course, by liberally undoing moves and playing only previously won games, a player can do somewhat better.

History

Legend has it that Canfield Solitaire was originally invented in 1890's and was named after its inventor, Richard Canfield, who became quite wealthy from it. But, no one really knows if this is true or not.

Goal

The goal of Canfield Solitaire is to move all of the cards into the foundations.

How to Play Canfield

Canfield Solitaire is played with a 52-card deck of standard playing cards.

When the game starts, 13 cards are placed into the reverse, only the top card of which is visible. In the leftmost foundation is set 1 face-up card, called the base card. Next, 4 face-up cards are sent to the tableau, one per column. The remaining 34 cards are laid face-down into the stock.

The rank of the base card, the base rank, determines the starting rank for all builds in the foundations.

This game allows ranks to be wrapped.

Tableau piles build downward by rank, so wrapping allows a king to be placed onto an ace of the opposite color. However, foundations build upward by rank, so wrapping allows an ace to be placed onto a king of the same suit.

Within the tableau, cards can only be stacked downward in rank by alternate colors. Any number of cards may be taken from the bottom of one pile and placed onto the bottom of another pile. When a column is emptied, as long as the reserve is not empty, the slot is automatically filled with the top reserve card. However, if the reserve is empty, any cards may be placed into a vacant column.

As long as it's a legal move, a card may be played to the tableau from either the reserve pile, the waste pile, or a foundation. A card may be played to the foundations from either the reserve pile, the waste pile, or a tableau pile. If the card shares the base rank then it begins a build, otherwise it must extend a build.

Whenever the player deems it necessary, the stock may be clicked to change the current top waste card. This is usually done when there are no more playable moves, but it doesn't have to be. Canfield allows unlimited passes of the stock, so when it's empty, a single click resets it.

Strategy

Here are seven gameplay tips on how to beat Canfield:

• Much of this game is luck, which is why a randomly generated game is very difficult to win (even when undoing moves). The only real hope is by planning moves very carefully. Even then, it's not easy.
• Because only every third card is available in the stock, in order to get to certain needed cards, it's often necessary to delay moves. Either careful planning or chance is required to get it right.
• It's very easy to have runs in all 4 piles such that no two piles can easily be merged. This makes it more difficult to remove cards from the reserve pile. In this case, the player might want to concentrate more on the foundations.
• On average, one card that shares the base rank should be expected to be in the reserve pile. If it's not the top card, it might be difficult to get to. And without all 4 builds in progress, winning is even harder. In this case, removing cards from the reserve pile should probably be given the highest priority.
• When a tableau column become unoccupied because the reserve is empty, it can really be put to good use. Among other benefits, an empty column allows a card to be placed at the top of a run (with two moves). With a vacant column and some careful planning, an experienced player has an excellent chance of winning.
• It's often advantageous to move cards from the foundations into the tableau. The obvious danger is that cards moved from the foundation become unreachable once covered by a card taken from either the waste or reserve pile.
• A serious player might wish to run though the stock one time before making any moves. They can take notes on where every card is. And since they know the base card, the 4 cards in the tableau, and the top reserve card, they can decipher which 12 cards remain face-down in the reserve pile, but obviously not their order. If one is seriously planning to win, utilizing this information is probably a good way to go.

Layout

The game screen is made up of 5 different areas.

The tableau is located in the right-center of the screen. It consists of 4 unmarked columns. Each column generally contains a vertically overlapped pile of one or more face-up cards, but near the end of a game, a column can be empty.

The foundations are located directly above the tableau. Horizontally, it consists of 4 rectangles. Each rectangle is a foundation where a suit can be built downward by rank.

The reserve is located left of the tableau. It consists of a vertical pile of several cards, only the top card is face-up (visible) and playable. No card may ever be moved to this area.

Located in the upper-left corner are the stock and waste. They work together to supply one playable card at a time.

The stock is a container for cards that will be put into play as the game progresses. It normally contains a pile of face-down squared cards. The waste is directly to the right of the stock.

Whenever the player clicks on a non-empty stock, 3 cards (or less if only 1 or 2 remain) are dealt from the stock to the waste. Cards in the waste are always face-up, although only the top 3 cards (or 1 or 2 if less remain) will be visible. Only the top card in the waste pile is playable.

There is no limit to the number of passes allowed through the stock. To reset an empty stock, the player must click on it. This causes the entire waste pile to be moved into the stock. In no other way can cards be put into the stock.