History of solitaire
by Lucie Jones
The game of solitaire, though it sounds a bit lonely because of the word, "solitary," is far from lonely. Solitaire is one of the most entertaining card games to play even if played alone, and it is also one of the most played games ever. So, what is Solitaire exactly and where did it come from?Solitaire (in England it is called, Patience) are card games that are played by a single player using one or more decks of cards. The deck is usually the standard deck containing 52 cards, which include 4 suits (Hearts, Spades, Clubs and Diamonds) each with royal cards (Ace, King, Queen, Jack) as well as the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 cards. The player has various restrictions and rules to adhere to depending on the type of Solitaire game. There are so many variations of Solitaire, it is difficult to know how many there are that exist in the world today. Also, many people have invented new versions of solitaire games; it is truly a game that has many ways to play it, so the number of Solitaire games is growing even as you're reading this article.Usually, a game of Solitaire will involve dealing one or more decks of cards on to a board. The player must use strategy and skill to meticulously rearrange them in some specific manner, in order to win the game play. Typically, the player would be called to order them either by suit, in ascending order, in descending order, and/or a combination of all of those requirements. The games also vary in difficulty; in other words, there may be some Solitaire games where players may never win because the odds of winning are so low. Others would allow higher odds for success.Because there are no tangible historical records to support it, no one is entirely sure where the game of solitaire or any card games for that matter came from, unfortunately. Historians and scholars surmise that games like solitaire are French in origin due to the fact that references to these types of games were first linked to French literature. Many of the names of Solitaire games were also mentioned in literature, and they were French words such as La Nivernaise, Le Cadran, La Belle Lucie, and Le loi Salique, among others. Solitaire was also known as "Patience," which is what the French today call the game of Solitaire.Other proof that supports the notion that the origins of Solitaire are French is that there are Solitaire games called, "Napoleon's Square" and "Napoleon at St. Helena," making an obvious reference to the famous French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. He was also known as "The Little Corsican" which refers to his small stature. It was common knowledge that Napoleon enjoyed playing solitaire particularly during his exile, but it is not known whether he simply played the games, or if he, in fact, invented them. Franklin D. Roosevelt was another of the many well known players of the game of solitaire. His favorite solitaire game was Spider solitaire.More literary references to solitaire games were in: 1) Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace; 2) Fyodor Dostooevsky's novel, The Brothers Karamazov; 3) Lady Adelaide Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Patience; 4) DIck
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