Superior Canfield Solitaire
How to play Superior Canfield
Superior Canfield is Canfield played with the whole thirteen-card reserve face up, a run that can move from any of its cards, and empty piles that are never filled for you.
Canfield with the whole reserve face up, runs that move from any card, and empty piles that any card may fill.
The goal of Superior Canfield
Move every card onto the four foundations, building each one up by suit from the rank the deal turns up, past the King to the Ace.
How to set up Superior Canfield
Thirteen cards are dealt face up into the reserve and spread so that every one of them can be seen. The next card starts its suit's foundation, and its rank is the one all four foundations start from. One card is dealt face up to each of the four tableau piles, and the other 34 cards form the stock.
Superior Canfield rules
Tableau piles build down one rank at a time in alternating colours, and a King may go on an Ace. Any card in a pile can be moved together with all the cards above it.
Only the top card of the reserve is in play, even though the whole reserve is face up, and it can go onto a foundation or a tableau pile. An emptied pile is not refilled from the reserve. At any time, any card that can move may be put into an empty pile: the reserve's top card, the top waste card, or a card from another pile with the cards above it. A pile may also stay empty.
Turn the stock three cards at a time onto the waste. Only the top waste card is in play. When the stock runs out, turn the waste back over to make a new stock, as often as you like.
The foundations build up by suit from the starting rank to the King, then on through the Ace to the rank below it. A card on a foundation never comes back into play.
Click a card to play it: to its foundation if it fits, otherwise onto the first pile it builds on, and only then into an empty pile. A card clicked in a pile moves with every card above it. Drag a card or a run to choose where it goes yourself. With Autoplay off in Settings, only a drag moves a card.
How to win at Superior Canfield
You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations. Once the reserve, the stock and the waste are empty and every pile is in order, Auto complete, on by default in Settings, moves the remaining cards up for you. The game is stuck when no card can move and turning the stock brings up nothing that can.
Superior Canfield strategy tips
The whole reserve is on show, so you always know which card comes after the top one. Before you play the reserve's top card, check where the card under it can go.
An empty pile is not filled for you, so it waits for the card you choose. Keep it for a reserve card with nowhere else to go, or for part of a pile you need to lift off a card underneath.
With three cards turned at a time, only every third card of the stock comes up on a pass. Playing a card from the waste shifts the ones after it, so a card you could not reach may come up on the next pass.
Superior Canfield questions and answers
How do you play Superior Canfield solitaire?
Deal thirteen cards face up to the reserve, one to start the foundations and one to each of four tableau piles, and keep the rest as the stock. Build the piles down in alternating colours, play the reserve's top card whenever you can, and turn the stock three cards at a time. The foundations build up by suit from the first foundation card's rank, and you win when all 52 cards are on them.
What is the difference between Superior Canfield and Canfield?
The deal and the building are the same, but the whole reserve is dealt face up and spread, so you can see every card in it, though only its top card is in play. An emptied pile is not refilled from the reserve, and any card in a pile can move with the cards above it.
What happens when a tableau pile is emptied in Superior Canfield?
Nothing fills it for you. Any card that can move may be put into it at any time, whether the reserve's top card, the top waste card or a card from another pile with the cards above it, and it may stay empty as long as you like.
Can every Superior Canfield deal be won?
No, though few are proved lost. Tested on 100 shuffled Superior Canfield deals, the game's solver proved 59 winnable and only 2 lost in the search a hint gets, and could not settle the other 39. Switch on Winnable in the menu beside New deal and each new board is shuffled until the solver proves it can be won, which took a median of two shuffles in testing; if the solver runs out of tries, you get an ordinary shuffle. The Hint button asks the same solver for a winning line before it suggests a move.
Is there a daily Superior Canfield game?
Yes. Superior Canfield has a daily board, the same deal for everyone that day, dealt the way a Winnable board is. You need to be logged in to play it.