Fortress (solitaire)

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Fortress is a solitaire card game which is played with a deck of playing cards. It is similar in many respects to Beleaguered Castle, and though it has more tableau piles, it is no easier.

First, ten overlapping rows of cards are formed, two containing six cards (one on the left and one at the right) and the rest having eight cards (four at each side). A space is left in the middle for the aces, which when available, become the bases for the foundations. The foundations are each built up by suit up to kings.

At the tableau rows, the top card (i.e. the fully exposed one) of each row is available for play on the foundations or in the tableau. Tableau building is up or down by suit as the player pleases. However, one card can be moved at a time, and building is not round-the-corner, i.e. aces cannot be placed over kings and vice versa. Spaces can be filled with any available card.

The game is won when all cards are built onto the foundations. But like Beleagueared Castle and its cousin Streets and Alleys, winning is slim because of the distribution of high cards in the tableau.

[edit] Chessboard

Chessboard is a variation of Fortress. It is played like Fortress except that in this game, the player can freely choose the starting rank of all the foundations. Furthermore, building can go round-the-corner, i.e. aces can be placed over kings and vice versa.

See also: solitaire terminology