CHURCHILL SOLITAIRE

OBJECT OF CHURCHILL SOLITAIRE: The object of Churchill Solitaire is to have someone on your team run out of cards first.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 1 player

MATERIALS: Two standard 52-card decks, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Solitaire Card Game

AUDIENCE: Adult 

OVERVIEW OF CHURCHILL SOLITAIRE

Churchill Solitaire is considered to be the most difficult solitaire game to play. It uses two full decks of cards and has a separate layout of cards in the tableau called the “Devil’s Six”. It also has a very distinct tableau layout of the cards as well as some interesting rules for moving cards into their final stacks.

SETUP 

The setup for Churchill Solitaire starts will the two decks being shuffled together to form one deck of 104 cards. From this deck, you will start to deal. There are two ways to set up the “devil’s six” but the easiest way is to deal 6 faceup cards to the top left of your tableau. Then you can start creating your piles. There are 10 piles in total and they are mirrored at the 5th and 6th pile. starting with pile one deal a single faceup card. then piles 2 through 9 will receive a facedown card. Pile 10 will also receive a single faceup card. Next starting at pile two, deal a single faceup card to it. Then in piles 3 through 8, place a single facedown card. Pile 9 will also receive a single faceup card. Next pile 3 will receive a single faceup card. piles 4 through 7 will each receive a single facedown card, and pile 8 will receive a single faceup card. Next pile 4 will receive a single faceup card, and piles 5 and 6 will receive a facedown card. pile 7 will also receive a faceup card. the piles 5 and 6 will be finished by placing on each a single faceup card. There should be space left to the upper right of your tableau for all 8 piles that will be filled through the course of the game. All the remaining cards form the stock and will be kept facedown to the left of the Devils Six. 

Cards Ranking 

Cards can be stacked per their rank. When building piles in the center of the tableau they will be stacked in descending order of rank. When placing cards in their final piles, also known as victory piles, they will be placed in ascending order. The ranking used it Ace (low), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Jack, Queen, and King (high). 

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay is very similar to most other solitaire games. Cards in the center piles can be moved and stacked in alternating colors in a descending pattern. When a facedown card is left as the top of a pile it is revealed and can be moved. Empty piles can only be filled with kings, and when aces are revealed, they are automatically added to the victory piles. All other cards can be added to their victory piles when you choose for them to, but you must follow the requirements in traditional solitaire to do so. 

The only special rules this version of solitaire has, pertains to the stockpile and the Devils six. So, unlike most solitaire games you cannot cycle through the stockpile. Instead when you reach a place where no card cards can be legally moved you deal a faceup card on top of each pile. For the devil’s six, they cannot be used in the tableau to move cards around. The devil’s six can only be moved into the victory pile when they are next in rank. 

END OF GAME

The game ends when you have successfully moved all cards into their correct victory piles in ascending order, or when there are no more legal moves and the stockpile is empty. 

Amber Crook
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