Congress is a patience or

solitaire Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself, usually with cards, but also with dominoes. The term "solitaire" is also used for single-player games of concentration and skill using a set layout tiles, pegs or stones. These game ...

card game using two decks of 52

playing card A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...

s 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 Forty Thieves or 40 Thieves may refer to: * the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves Groups of people * the Forty Thieves (New York gang), an 18th-century New York street gang *The Forty Thieves (New York City Common Council 1852–1853) * the ...

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.

Rules

Two columns of four cards each are dealt. In between these two columns are columns that serve as foundations. Once an ace is available, it is placed on one of these foundations and it is built up by suit to Kings. The cards on the two columns to the left and right of the foundations are

available In reliability engineering, the term availability has the following meanings: * The degree to which a system, subsystem or equipment is in a specified operable and committable state at the start of a mission, when the mission is called for at ...

for play and a card can built onto a foundation or to another card on the

tableau Tableau (French for 'little table' literally, also used to mean 'picture'; tableaux or, rarely, tableaus) may refer to: Arts * ''Tableau'', a series of four paintings by Piet Mondrian titled ''Tableau I'' through to ''Tableau IV'' * ''Tableau viv ...

(the two columns). Building on the tableau is down regardless of suit and any

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

is filled either by the top card of the

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

or the

top card ''Top Card'' is a game show that aired on TNN and produced by Reid-Land Productions, replacing TNN's original game show ''Fandango''. The show aired from April 3, 1989 to March 26, 1993 and was based on the card game Blackjack. Jim Caldwell was ...

of the wastepile. Cards are moved only one at a time. When play is no longer possible on the tableau, the stock is dealt one at a time onto the waste pile, the top card of which is available for play. It can only be

dealt ''Dealt'' is a 2017 American documentary film directed by Luke Korem. The film is about the life and career of Richard Turner - who is renowned as one of the world's greatest card magicians, yet he is completely blind. In the documentary, Richar ...

once. The game is out if all cards are placed onto the foundations.

Variations

Parliament is an easier variant of Congress where the Aces begin on the foundations. Also closely related is

Diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

References

{{Solitaire Simple packers Double-deck patience card games

Rules

Variations

See also

References