Solitaire Canfield

Canfield is a challenging solitaire card game named after Richard A. Canfield, a famous 19th-century American gambler and casino owner. The game features a 13-card reserve pile, a single foundation starter card, and a small 4-column tableau. It is significantly harder than Klondike, with win rates estimated at only 3-10%. Canfield is sometimes confused with the game "Demon" in British terminology, which uses the same rules.

Rules

1. Reserve: 13 cards are dealt face-down into a reserve pile. The top card is turned face-up.
2. Foundation Starter: One card is dealt face-up to start the first foundation pile. This rank becomes the base for all four foundations (e.g., if a 7 is dealt, all foundations build from 7 up through 6, wrapping through King-Ace).
3. Tableau: 4 cards are dealt face-up, one to each of 4 columns.
4. Stock: The remaining 34 cards form the stock.
5. Foundations: Build four piles by suit in ascending order from the starter rank, wrapping from King to Ace as needed.
6. Tableau Building: Build down in alternating colors (red on black, black on red). Stacks of properly sequenced cards can be moved together.
7. Drawing: Draw 3 cards at a time from the stock to the waste pile. Only the top waste card is available.
8. Reserve Use: Whenever a tableau column becomes empty, the top card of the reserve automatically fills it.
9. Recycling: When the stock is exhausted, turn the waste pile over (without shuffling) to form a new stock. Unlimited recycling is typically allowed.
10. Winning: Move all 52 cards to the foundations.

Strategies

• Watch the Reserve: The reserve automatically fills empty columns. Since you cannot choose which reserve card fills a space, plan around what might appear.
• Build Evenly: Keep foundation piles at similar heights. Advancing one foundation too far can block needed cards.
• Create Empty Columns Deliberately: Emptying a column draws from the reserve, which is the primary way to cycle through the reserve pile. This is essential for progress.
• Track Foundation Rank: Remember that foundations wrap — after King comes Ace, then 2, and so on up to the rank just below the starter.
• Use Stock Efficiently: Since you draw 3 at a time, pay attention to the rhythm of cards cycling through the stock-waste loop.
• Be Patient: With unlimited recycling, games can take many passes through the stock. Don't give up early.

Canfield is named after Richard Albert Canfield (1855-1914), one of the most notorious gamblers in American history. Canfield operated a luxurious casino at 5 East 44th Street in New York City in the 1890s and early 1900s, which was frequented by high-society clientele. According to legend, Canfield offered a gambling proposition in his casino: players paid $52 for a deck of cards and received $5 back for each card they managed to move to the foundations. Since the average return was only about $5-6 per game, the house had an enormous edge.

Confusingly, the game Americans call "Canfield" is called "Demon" in the United Kingdom, while the game the British call "Canfield" is known as "Klondike" in America. This transatlantic naming swap has caused confusion in card game literature for over a century.

The game was included in many early computer solitaire collections and has maintained a dedicated following among solitaire enthusiasts who appreciate its difficulty. Its low win rate — estimated between 3% and 10% depending on the specific rules — makes a win genuinely satisfying.

Canfield has spawned several variants, including "Storehouse" (where all foundation cards start in the reserve), "Chameleon" (a simplified version with fewer columns), and "Rainbow" (where tableau building ignores suit). Despite its difficulty, or perhaps because of it, Canfield remains a staple of serious solitaire collections.