Paganini Solitaire is David Parlett's two-deck member of the Gaps/Montana family, named after the legendary violinist Niccolò Paganini — who famously dazzled audiences playing on a single string. The name is the rules: you get a single deal and no redeals, so every gap you open has to count. If you enjoy Gaps (Montana) but want a bigger board and deeper planning, this is the virtuoso version.
Objective: Arrange all 104 cards so that each of the eight rows runs Ace to King in a single suit, from left to right.
Your eight ace placements are the only gaps you get to create on purpose — they are the engine of the whole game:
Every fill relocates a card and opens a new gap somewhere else. Before you move, trace the chain: which gap opens next, and is its left-hand neighbour useful? A three-move look-ahead is the minimum; strong players trace chains of six or more.
Two decks means every card has a twin. When a gap wants the 8, you can choose either copy — pick the one whose departure opens the more useful gap. This choice is Paganini's biggest strategic difference from single-deck Gaps.
Similarities: Both are open-information games where gaps are filled by the same-suit successor of the card to the left, and gaps after Kings are dead. Differences: Paganini uses two decks (104 cards in 8 rows instead of 52 in 4), rows run Ace to King rather than 2 to King, the aces stay in play and you choose when to seat them, and there are no redeals — Montana traditionally allows two.
Each unseated ace is a gap you can still create anywhere. Spend them like trump cards, not opening moves.
A legal fill that opens a gap to the right of a King trades a live gap for a dead one. Always check what the move leaves behind.
Grabbing whichever twin is nearest is a habit from single-deck play. The two copies almost never open equally useful gaps — compare before you commit.
The game was invented by David Parlett and named for Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840), the violin virtuoso famous for performing on a single string. The joke is built into the rules: you get one deal — one string — and no redeals.
Three ways: it uses two decks dealt as 8 rows of 13; the aces are not removed — they are dealt into the layout and you move each one to a row start whenever you choose; and there are no redeals. Rows therefore run A-2-3…K instead of Montana's 2…K.
No. Paganini is a one-deal game — that is the point of the name. When no gap can be legally filled and no ace move remains, the game ends. Plan your gaps carefully!
Either copy is legal — both decks are in play. Choose the copy whose departure creates the more useful gap: prefer freeing a card that sits right of a low, unblocked card, and avoid opening gaps beside Kings.
No. Once an ace is seated at the start of a row it stays for the rest of the game, and that row is committed to building up in the ace's suit.
Harder than Montana with redeals but very skill-driven, since all 104 cards are visible from the first move. Careful ace timing and chain planning raise your win rate dramatically — rushed play almost always ends in a board full of dead gaps.
One deal, one string — play Paganini Solitaire like a virtuoso!