La Belle Lucie

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La Belle Lucie
A Patience game
La Belle Lucie (solitaire) Layout.jpg
Screenshot of La Belle Lucie
Alternative namesAlexander the Great, Clover Leaves, Midnight Oil
Named variantsThe Fan, Trefoil, Three Shuffles and a Draw
FamilyFan
DeckSingle 52-card
See also Glossary of solitaire terms
A game in progress 3 Shuffles and a Draw, In Progress.JPG
A game in progress
layout 3 Shuffles and a Draw, Start.JPG
layout

La Belle Lucie is a patience or card solitaire where the object is to build the cards into the foundations. [1] It is considered to be representative of the "fan" family of solitaire card games, and has a pleasing layout. [2]

Contents

While the game originated in France as La Belle Lucie, it is also known under the name Lovely Lucy. [3] [4] Other common names and closely related variants include The Fan, Clover Leaves, Three Shuffles and a Draw , Alexander the Great, Trefoil, and Midnight Oil.

All cards are visible from the start, but this does not imply that this game is solvable with strategy, because the game is very hard to win under the default rules. [5] For example, moving a single card onto another blocks that stack until both cards can be removed to the foundations. Any setup that has a lower card of a specific suit below a higher of the same suit, or all kings not on the bottom of each cascade cannot be solved without cheating. The shuffle and redeal is of little help. For each king left in the second redeal, there is a 66% chance that the cascade cannot be solved (if the king is not lowest). Moving aces out (Trefoil rule) has cosmetic character.

History

La Belle Lucie is "a classic patience game" [6] that was first published in the English language by Lady Adelaide Cadogan in 1870. [7]

Rules

Variants

Variants are listed in the order they will occur in the game play:

The "no redeal rule" and the "king rule" are often used together since redeals are needed to get to cards under a king unless it’s allowed to move kings to empty fans.

Shamrocks is a closely related variant that limits building in the tableau to three cards per fan.

Strategies

Since all cards are visible after the deal, the basic strategy is to think before doing moves. A redeal is not always of much help, since it will give fewer fans than the initial deal.

Cards under a king are blocked until the redeal or until the king is moved to the foundations (if the "king rule" is not in effect).

For standard rules

For the "alternating colours rule for moves between fans"

The "alternating colours rule for moves between fans" will simplify the difficulty a little bit and slightly increase the move but will significantly change the strategy used in the game:

For the "regardless of suit for moves between fans" (Super Flower Garden)

The "regardless of suit for moves between fans" will simplify the difficulty and increase the moves

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamrocks</span> Solitaire card game

Shamrocks is a solitaire game akin to La Belle Lucie. The object is the same as the latter: move the cards into the foundations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grandfather's Clock</span> Card game

Grandfather's Clock is an easy patience or solitaire card game using a deck of 52 playing cards. Its foundation is akin to Clock Patience; but while winning the latter depends entirely on the luck of the draw, Grandfather's Clock has a strategic side, with the chances of winning being around 3 out of 4 games, especially if careful consideration is given to which cards would be released in instances where you have a choice of plays between identical cards.

Bisley is a patience or card solitaire which uses a deck of 52 playing cards, and while difficult, it often can be completed successfully. It is closely related to Baker's Dozen, but the foundations are built upwards from Ace and downwards from King simultaneously. It is one of the few one-deck games in which the player has options on which foundation a card can be placed.

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.

Matrimony is a patience or card solitaire game that uses two packs of 52 playing cards. It is a difficult game which depends mostly on luck and is sometimes mechanical.

Crescent is a solitaire card game played with two decks of playing cards mixed together. The game is so called because when the cards are dealt properly, the resulting piles should form a large arc or a crescent. An alternative and less common name for the game is La Demi-Lune.

Big Ben is a patience or card solitaire which uses two decks of playing cards mixed together. It is named after Big Ben, the nickname of the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster in London.

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.

Archway is a patience or solitaire card game using two decks of 52 playing cards. Its goal is to bring all 104 cards into the foundation. It was invented by David Parlett, and is based on an old French solitaire game called La Chatelaine.

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.

Aces and Kings is a challenging and original solitaire game using two decks of playing cards, and was created by Thomas Warfield. The object of the game is to build 8 foundations down from King to Ace or up from Ace to King without regard to suit.

American Toad is a patience or card solitaire game played using two standard packs of playing cards. It is similar to Canfield except that the tableau builds down in suit, and a partial tableau stack cannot be moved, only the top card or entire stack. The object is to move all cards to the foundations.

Backbone is a unique and difficult patience or card solitaire game using two packs of playing cards. The object is to move all cards to the foundations.

Batsford is a patience or card solitaire similar to Klondike except that it uses two decks instead of one. The cards are turned up one at a time during a single pass through the deck, and there is also a reserve pile available for a single King.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Box Kite (card game)</span>

Box Kite is a moderately difficult patience or card solitaire using two packs. The object of the game is to move all of the cards to the foundations. It is a variant of the old game of St. Helena.

Casket is a moderately easy solitaire game using two decks. The object of the game is to move all of the cards to the foundations.

Corona is a relatively long and difficult patience or card solitaire using two decks. The object of the game is to move all of the cards to the foundations. Successfully winning the game is considered difficult.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josephine (card game)</span>


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.

Three Shuffles and a Draw is a solitaire game using one deck of playing cards. This game is similar to La Belle Lucie besides being able to draw one card after the second shuffle. The object of the game is to move all of the cards to the Foundations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Patience</span> Card game

Australian Patience is a patience or card solitaire using one deck of playing cards. This game is a challenging combination of Klondike and Scorpion, and is also closely related to Yukon. The object of the game is to move all of the cards to the Foundations.

References

  1. "La Belle Lucie" (p.208) in Hoyle's Rules of Games (3rd edition) by Philip D. Morehead (ed.), 2001. ISBN   0-451-20484-0
  2. "La Belle Lucie" (p.232) in The Complete Book of Card Games by Peter Arnold, Hamlyn Publishing, 2010. ISBN   978-0-600-62191-1
  3. "Lovely Lucy" in Glenn, Jim and Denton, Carey. The Treasury of Family Games (page 108). Reader's Digest, 2003 ( ISBN   9780762104314)
  4. "Lovely Lucy" in Whiter, Barb (2000). The Encyclopedia of Games. Hinkler Books. p. 76. ISBN   9781865152547.
  5. "La Belle Lucie (Fan)" (p.426) in The Penguin Book of Card Games by David Parlett, Treasure Press, 1987. ISBN   1-85051-221-3
  6. Arnold 2011, pp. 73–75.
  7. Cadogan 1968, pp. v & vii.
  8. Card Games for Dummies by Barry Rigal ( ISBN   0-7645-5050-0).
  9. "La Belle Lucie" (p.54) in The Little Book of Solitaire, Running Press, 2002. ISBN   0-7624-1381-6

Bibliography

See also