Klondike Solitaire Rules: Setup, Legal Moves, and Winning

Klondike is the game most people mean when they say “Solitaire.” It uses one standard 52-card deck and combines hidden information, alternating-color tableau building, and four suit foundations. This guide covers the standard rules used by the game on this site.

The objective

Move all 52 cards to four foundation piles. Each foundation contains one suit and must be built upward in rank from Ace to King: A, 2, 3, and so on through Queen and King.

How the opening layout is dealt

The table has four areas:

• Tableau: seven columns containing 28 cards.
• Stock: the 24 cards left after the tableau is dealt.
• Waste: cards turned face up from the stock.
• Foundations: four initially empty piles, one for each suit.

The first tableau column contains one card, the second contains two, and this pattern continues through the seventh column. Only the top card of each column starts face up.

Legal tableau moves

• Build downward by one rank while alternating colors. For example, a red Queen may be placed on a black King, and a black 7 on a red 8.
• A correctly ordered face-up sequence may be moved together. Every card in the sequence must already follow the alternating-color rule.
• When a face-down tableau card becomes exposed, turn it face up.
• Only a King, or a valid sequence beginning with a King, may enter an empty tableau column.

Foundation rules

Foundations build upward by suit. An Ace starts a foundation, followed by the 2 of the same suit, then the 3, continuing to the King. A card may be moved from the tableau or waste when the next lower card of its suit is already on the foundation.

Moving a card to a foundation is legal whenever it fits, but it is not always strategically wise. A low card may still be needed in the tableau to expose a hidden card or support an alternating-color sequence.

Stock and waste rules

The stock can operate in Draw 1 or Draw 3 mode. In Draw 1, one card is turned onto the waste at a time. In Draw 3, cards are turned in groups of three and only the top waste card is immediately available.

When the stock is exhausted, the waste can be recycled according to the rules of the implementation. This site allows continued passes, but physical and tournament rule sets sometimes limit the number of passes. The draw mode and pass rule therefore matter when comparing different Klondike games.

How a game ends

You win when all four foundations are complete from Ace through King. A deal is not won merely because no obvious move is visible; check the waste, stock, foundations, and every exposed tableau card before concluding that play is blocked.

Not every shuffled Klondike deal is necessarily solvable under every draw and pass rule. Avoid universal win-rate claims that do not identify the exact rules and deal set being measured.

Quick rules checklist

• Tableau: descending ranks, alternating colors.
• Empty tableau column: King or King-led sequence only.
• Foundation: ascending ranks in the same suit, Ace through King.
• Only the top waste card is playable.
• Turn over a newly exposed face-down tableau card.
• Move all 52 cards to the foundations to win.