| A Patience game | |
 Screenshot of Diplomat | |
| Family | Forty Thieves |
|---|---|
| Deck | Double 52-card |
| Odds of winning | 2 in 3 |
| See also Glossary of patience and solitaire terms | |
Diplomat is a patience or solitaire card game which is played using two decks of playing cards shuffled together. [1] Its layout is similar to that of Beleaguered Castle, and the play is similar to Forty Thieves. It can be completed successfully more often than not.
First, thirty-two cards each are dealt and arranged so that they form two columns of four rows (eight rows in total) of four cards each just as in Beleaguered Castle, making a point to leave room in between the two columns for the eight aces that form the bases of the foundations.
The top cards of each row of cards for play to the foundations on the center of the columns or around the tableau (the eight rows). The foundations are built up by suit up to kings, while the cards in the tableau are built down regardless of suit. When a space occurs in the tableau, it can be filled by any available card. Only one card can be moved at a time.
When there are no available moves—or if the players has done all plays one can make—the stock is dealt one at a time. Any card that cannot be played to the foundations or the tableau can be placed on the wastepile, the top card of which is available for play. The stock can only be dealt once.
The game ends as soon as after the entire stock is dealt. The game is won when all cards end up in the foundations.
Other closely related games include Congress and Parliament, which are also two deck games in the style of Forty Thieves with tableaus of eight columns.
Gargantua is a patience or solitaire card game that is a version of Klondike using two decks. It is also known as Double Klondike and as Jumbo.
Interregnum is a solitaire card game using two decks of 52 cards each. It sometimes also is given the name Constitution, although this alternate name can also refer to an entirely different game. The object of Interregnum is to build eight foundations of thirteen cards each, regardless of suit. Building the foundations is unusual compared to most foundation-building games.
Napoleon at St Helena is a 2-deck patience or solitaire card game for one player. It is quite difficult to win, and luck-of-the-draw is a significant factor. The Emperor Napoleon often played patience during his final exile to the island of St Helena, and this is said to be the version he probably played. Along with its variants, it is one of the most popular two-deck patiences or solitaires. The winning chances have been estimated as 1 in 10 games, with success typically dependent on the player's ability to clear one or more columns. The game is the progenitor of a large family of similar games, mostly with variations designed to make it easier to get out.
Baker's Dozen is a patience or card solitaire using a single pack of fifty-two playing cards. The game is so called because of the 13 columns in the game, the number in a baker's dozen.
Beleaguered Castle is a patience or solitaire card game played with a deck of 52 playing cards. It is sometimes described as "Freecell without cells" because its game play is somewhat akin to the popular solitaire computer game of that name but without extra empty spaces to maneuver. Beleaguered Castle is also called Laying Siege and Sham Battle.
British Square is a patience or solitaire card game which uses two decks of 52 playing cards each. It is a fan-type game in the style of La Belle Lucie. It has an unusual feature of switchback building whereby each foundation is first built up and then built down.
Congress is a patience or solitaire card game using two decks of 52 playing cards each. It is a simple but strategic game which requires skill and careful choosing for it to be completed successfully. It is closely related to Forty Thieves but has eight instead of ten columns. It is sometimes called President's Cabinet, and can typically be completed successfully less than once in 20 games.
Tournament is a patience or solitaire card game which uses two decks of playing cards shuffled together. It is a variant of the much older game of Napoleon's Flank or Nivernaise and was first known as Maréchal Saxe.
Red and Black is a patience or card solitaire which uses two decks of playing cards. The game is so called because all building is done in alternating colors of red and black. It is not related to another similarly named solitaire game of Rouge et Noir, although Red and Black can also be known under that name. It is part of the Napoleon at St Helena family of patiences and solitaires.
Queen of Italy is a solitaire card game played with two decks of playing cards. It is a very strategic game that rewards careful planning, since the cards that potentially block the game are presented at the start, and with care it can be completed about half the number of attempts.
Duchess or Glenwood is a patience or solitaire card game which uses a deck of 52 playing cards. It has all four typical features of a traditional patience or solitaire game: a tableau, a reserve, a stock or talon and a wastepile. It is relatively easy to get out. It is a reserved packer, the same type of game as Canfield or Demon. Arnold describes it as "an interesting game with a fair chance of a favourable outcome."
Babette is a solitaire card game that uses two decks of playing cards shuffled together, with game play similar to that of the game Labyrinth.
Westcliff is the name of two closely-related patience or card solitaire games of the simple packer type, both of which are played using a deck of 52 playing cards. One version is particularly easy to win, with odds of 9 in 10; the other is harder with odds closer to 1 in 4. The game has a variant, Easthaven.
Napoleon's Square is a patience or solitaire card game which uses two decks of playing cards. First described in a revised edition of Lady Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Patience or Solitaire in the early 1900s, it is an easy variation of Napoleon at St Helena. It is not determined if Napoleon actually played this game, or any solitaire game named after him.
Deuces or Twos is a patience or card solitaire game of English origin which is played with two packs of playing cards. It is so called because each foundation starts with a Deuce, or Two. It belongs to a family of card games that includes Busy Aces, which is derived in turn from Napoleon at St Helena.
Fortress is a patience or solitaire card game which is played with a deck of playing cards, in which the entire deck is laid out. It is a member of the Castle family of solitaire games, but has two more tableau piles than Beleaguered Castle and the piles are shorter.
Fortune's Favor or Fortune's Favour is a patience or card solitaire which is played with a deck of 52 playing cards. It is so-called probably because the chances of winning are completely on the player's side. It is a significantly simplified version of the game Busy Aces, a member of the Forty Thieves family of solitaire games.
Jubilee is the name given to two solitaire card games, both played with two decks of playing cards. Both games are so-called because they were created during the time of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. One of the games has an ornate layout, while the other is simpler and it belongs to the family of games which include Sir Tommy, Strategy, and Calculation.
Algerian or Algerian Patience is a unique and difficult patience or card solitaire using two decks of playing cards. The object of the game is to build 8 foundations down from King to Ace or up from Ace to King in suit.
Josephine is a patience or solitaire card game using two decks of playing cards. The object of the game is to move all of the cards to the Foundations. It is a variant of the more commonly known Napoleon at St Helena, and is named after Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's first wife.
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