Play Canfield Solitaire — Reserve Pile, Random Foundation Rank

Canfield is a single-deck patience invented as a casino game by Richard A. Canfield around 1900. Four tableau columns of one card each, a 13-card reserve, and four foundations — but the foundation rank isn't always Ace. The first card dealt to a foundation sets the starting rank for all four. From there you build up by suit, wrapping past King back to Ace if needed. The 13-card reserve and three-card stock draw create a tight, distinctive puzzle. Free in your browser, no sign-up. Works offline once the page has loaded.

How Do You Play Canfield?

Goal: build all four foundations up by suit (with wrap) until each contains 13 cards.

Setup

• Reserve: 13 cards stacked, only the top is visible and playable.
• Tableau: four columns, each with one face-up card.
• Foundations: four piles. The first foundation card is dealt at start — its rank is the starting rank for all four foundations.
• Stock: the remaining 34 cards face-down. Cards flip three at a time, top playable.

Rules

• Build tableau columns down by alternating color, with rank-wrap. Q can go on K, but K can also go on A (because A wraps to follow K).
• Build foundations up by suit, starting from the dealt rank. If the start rank is 7, the foundations go 7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A-2-3-4-5-6.
• Move groups of cards as a single block when alternating colors hold throughout.
• Empty columns are filled automatically from the reserve. When the reserve runs out, any card (or group) can fill an empty column.
• The stock cycles unlimited times — flip three at a time, only the top of each triplet is playable.

Canfield vs Klondike

Both build by alternating color, but the layouts and stock rules differ in three ways that matter.

What's the Best Canfield Strategy?

• Work the reserve first. Every reserve card you clear is one fewer obstacle blocking the auto-fill. Until the reserve empties, your tableau options are constrained.
• Mind the rank wrap. Foundations and tableau both wrap. K-A and A-K are both legal in their respective contexts. Don't reflexively send a card up just because it's the next foundation rank — check whether the tableau still needs it.
• Plan around three-card draws. Two of every three stock cards are inaccessible until the next pass. Cycle through the stock once to learn what's there before committing big tableau moves.
• Don't strand mid-rank cards. If your foundation starts at 7 and an A is buried in the tableau, you'll need that A near the end of the run. Mid-rank cards and rank-wrap together create surprising bottlenecks.
• Empty columns are leverage. Until the reserve empties, you can't manually fill them — but once it does, they become as valuable as in any tableau game.
• Foundation symmetry matters. Try to keep all four foundations within a few ranks of each other. Letting one suit race ahead leaves you without the placement targets the other suits need.

A Short History

Canfield was invented by Richard A. Canfield, a New York gambler and casino owner, around 1900. He sold the game at his casino in Saratoga Springs: players paid $50 for a deck and earned $5 for every card sent to the foundations — a deliberately punishing house edge given the game's low solvability. The game is also called Demon in British patience traditions, predating Canfield's commercial version. Microsoft included Canfield in some early Windows solitaire packages but never made it a headline title.

About This Version

This Canfield runs in your browser — free, no download, no sign-up. Install as an app on your phone or computer; once installed it works offline. Unlimited undo, statistics, and a daily challenge that gives every player the same deal that day so you can compare results.

Other Solitaire Games to Try

• Klondike — the seven-column classic with foundations from Ace
• FreeCell — every card visible, almost every deal winnable
• Yukon — seven columns, all face-up, lift-anything moves
• Spider — two decks, ten columns, suit-based sequences