Emperor is an English

patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when faced ...

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 A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...

which is played using two packs of

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. Although similar to other members of the large

Napoleon at St Helena 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 H ...

family, Emperor introduced the unique and distinguishing feature of worrying back as well as the novel term "sealed packet". Emperor is not to be confused with another patience sometimes called the

Emperor of Germany The German Emperor (german: Deutscher Kaiser, ) was the official title of the head of state and Hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and l ...

History

Rules for Emperor Patience appear in the 1890 edition of

Mary Whitmore Jones Mary Elizabeth Whitmore Jones ( 1823 – 1915) was an English author and the first female heir of Chastleton House. She was unmarried and did not have any children.rubbish heap and whether sequences could be moved between

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 ...

piles. These issues are clarified in Tarbart's account of Emperor in 1901: only single cards, not sequences, could be moved, and the top card of the rubbish heap was

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 a ...

for play."Tarbart" (1901), PP. 93–95. This early form of Emperor appears to have survived until the 1960s. From the 1930s, accounts appear that allow entire sequences to be moved and this rule has become the norm. The accounts also vary in the use of the rubbish heap or wastepile; in some cases, once 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 ...

is used up, a

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

of three cards is allowed, which may be replenished from the talon as cards are played from it. Emperor is sometimes equated in the literature to two other members of the Napoleon at St Helena family – Rank and File or Dress Parade and Deauville – probably because they are the only ones that share the same tableau layout. However, neither has the worrying back feature. The first appeared during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as Rank and File,Bergholt (1917), pp. 38–43. but, in later accounts, also as Dress Parade, perhaps to distinguish it from an earlier unrelated game also called Rank and File. Like modern Emperor, but unlike most games of the family, sequences could be moved from pile to pile. In 1939, rules for the second relative, Deauville, were published in which only single cards could be moved.Phillips & Westall (1939), pp. 233–234.

Rules

The goal is to put the aces in the

foundations Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

as soon as they are

and build each foundation up in suit sequence to the king. Forty cards are set up into ten

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

of four cards each. Each column should have its bottom three cards face down (collectively known as a 'sealed packet') and its

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 ...

face up. All the exposed (face-up) cards are available for

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

, to be built on the foundations or on other exposed cards on the

. When the top card of a column is played, it 'opens the sealed packet' i.e. the downcard

beneath Beneath may refer to: * ''Beneath'' (2007 film), directed by Dagen Merrill * ''Beneath'' (2013 film), a thriller film by Larry Fessenden *''Beneath'', a 2013 film directed by Ben Ketai * ''Beneath'' (Amoral album), 2011 *Beneath (Infant Island alb ...

it is turned face-up and becomes exposed (i.e. it is now available to be played).

Building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...

in the tableau happens in descending order and by

alternating color Games of patience, or (card) solitaires as they are usually called in North America, have their own 'language' of specialised terms such as "building down", "packing", "foundations", "talon" and "tableau". Once learnt they are helpful in des ...

. Modern rule sets allow moving of

packed Data structure alignment is the way data is arranged and accessed in computer memory. It consists of three separate but related issues: data alignment, data structure padding, and packing. The CPU in modern computer hardware performs reads and ...

sequences as a single unit, while the earlier rule sets do not permit this. When all possible moves are made, the talon or stock is dealt one at a time. A card that cannot be played yet onto tableau or on the foundations is placed on the

waste pile Games of patience, or (card) solitaires as they are usually called in North America, have their own 'language' of specialised terms such as "building down", "packing", "foundations", "talon" and "tableau". Once learnt they are helpful in de ...

, the top card of which is available for play. The game ends soon after the stock has run out. The game is won when all cards are built onto the foundations.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* Dalton, Basil (1948, 1964, 1967). ''The Complete Patience Book.'' John Baker. 234 pp. * Hervey, George F. (1977). ''The Illustrated Book of Card Games for One''. London & NY: Hamlyn. * Kansil, Joli Quentin (1999), ed. "Emperor" (p.311) in ''Bicycle Official Rules of Card Games''. * Moyse, Alphonse (1950). ''150 Ways to Play Solitaire''. Cincinnati: USPCC. * Parlett, David (1979). ''The Penguin Book of Patience'', London: Penguin. * Phillips, Hubert and Westall B.C. (1939,43,44,45). ''The Complete Book of Card Games''. London: Witherby. * "Tarbart" (1901). ''Games of Patience''. De La Rue. * Whitmore Jones, Mary (1890). ''Games of Patience for One or More Players''. 2nd Series. London: L. Upcott Gill. NY: Scribner’s. {{DEFAULTSORT:Emperor (Solitaire) Simple packers Double-deck patience card games Year of introduction missing

History

Rules

See also

Footnotes

References

Bibliography