Russian Solitaire

Russian Solitaire rules and strategy

A solitaire game without a stock, a variant of Yukon: all cards are on the table from the start, each suit is built separately, and entire groups can be moved, even out of sequence. This site explains the exact rules, strategy and winning games verified card by card. To play: Russian Solitaire, on iPhone, iPad and Android.

Read the rulesDownload the app

Available on the App Store and on Google Play.

Russian Solitaire on a phone held in landscape orientation, at the start of deal RU1-C-AAAAAAV on the green felt: seven columns, the first with a single card, the others with face-down cards with blue backs beneath five face-up cards; four empty foundations; time, score and move count at zero.

Russian Solitaire at a glance

Russian Solitaire is a single-player game using a deck of 52 cards, all dealt into 7 columns: 21 are face down and 31 are face up. There is no stock. The aim is to move all 52 cards onto 4 foundations, one per suit, from ace to king.

In the columns, a card is placed on a card of the same suit and one rank higher: the 9 of spades on the 10 of spades, never on the 10 of hearts. This is the only difference from Yukon, where red and black alternate. As in Yukon, you take any face-up card along with all the cards above it, even if they are not in sequence. Each face-down card uncovered is turned face up and becomes playable. The rules explain each move in detail, and the strategy explains how to approach the game.

A deal from the app

Here is the deal with code RU1-C-AAAAAAV as dealt by the app: it is the one shown in this page's screenshots. Paste this code into the New Game window to play it. Another deal, RU1-C-AAAAABB, is won in 90 moves on the Examples page.

Foundations, cards placed: 0 spades, 0 hearts, 0 diamonds, 0 clubs. Column 1: 0 face down, then queen of hearts; column 2: 1 face down, then 2 of spades, 10 of spades, king of hearts, 5 of hearts, jack of spades; column 3: 2 face down, then 4 of clubs, 2 of clubs, king of clubs, 3 of spades, ace of diamonds; column 4: 3 face down, then 3 of clubs, 3 of diamonds, 4 of spades, 9 of spades, 4 of diamonds; column 5: 4 face down, then jack of clubs, 10 of clubs, 10 of diamonds, 7 of hearts, 2 of diamonds; column 6: 5 face down, then 9 of hearts, 2 of hearts, 6 of hearts, 5 of spades, 3 of hearts; column 7: 6 face down, then 8 of spades, king of diamonds, ace of spades, 5 of diamonds, jack of diamonds.

Deal RU1-C-AAAAAAV at the start: columns of 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 cards, with 21 face-down cards in total and 31 face up.

Where to start?

On phone and tablet

The app is played in landscape orientation. It offers Classic or Relaxed rules, a code for each game to replay or share a deal, undo for the last 100 moves and statistics.

Russian Solitaire on a phone in landscape orientation, dark theme: the same deal RU1-C-AAAAAAV at the start, with seven columns on the green felt and four empty foundations.
Phone, landscape orientation, dark theme.
Russian Solitaire on a tablet in landscape orientation: deal RU1-C-AAAAAAV at the start, with seven columns and four empty foundations on the green felt.
Tablet, in landscape orientation.