LE BLOCUS.

I. ALL cards in the first row are available, but as each row is placed it blocks the preceding one.

The removal of any card in the lower rows releases the one immediately above it, the principle being that all cards are available that have no others below them.

II. The foundations must follow suit.

Deal out twelve cards in a horizontal line. Aces may be played as they appear, but no other card can be played until the row is complete. The eight aces are the foundation cards, and are to ascend in sequence to kings.

When the first line is placed, play any suitable cards, and then marry in descending line, but be careful to place the cards exactly over each other, to avoid confusion. The vacancies thus caused must be

immediately re-filled from the pack, then again play and marry. When neither can be done, deal out another row underneath the first, and when it is complete, play, marry and refill spaces as before.

You continue to deal out successive rows until the pack is exhausted, always pausing between each row to play, marry and re-fill spaces.

In the course of the game vacancies will often be made in the higher rows. These must always be re-filled first.

There is no re-deal.

I. WHEN the circle is formed, the uppermost cards of each packet are available, and their removal releases as usual those beneath.

II. Marriages can only be made with cards in the circle, and not with those from the pack or talon.

III. Vacancies in the circle must be re-filled with cards from the pack, but not from the talon; each packet must be re-filled so as to contain not less than three cards.

IV. The twelve foundations must follow suit.

Withdraw from the pack the twelve cards, as in tableau No. I., and place them in their exact order against the hours of the clock represented. These are the foundation cards, and are to ascend in sequence until each packet attains the hour of the clock against which it is placed.

Having placed these twelve foundations, proceed to deal out a circle consisting of twelve packets of three cards dealt together — so spread that each card is visible (see dotted line). From this circle you first play all suitable cards (Rule I.), and then marry in a descending line (Rule II.), and then re-fill spaces (Rule III.). This last should be done in order, from left to right, beginning at the numeral t, and all the packets refilled before proceeding again to play, or to marry.

Note.--Although each packet must never contain less than the original number of three cards, they will often, by marriages, contain more.

You are not obliged to play cards which would be more useful if left on the circle.

When all further progress is at an end, deal out the remaining cards; play all suitable ones, then marry and re-fill spaces, but be careful not to infringe Rule II.

The cards that cannot be so employed are laid aside in one packet, forming the talon, which can only be used to play on the foundations. There is no re-deal.

I. ONLY the outside cards of each group are available, until by their removal the next ones are released, the principle being that no-card can be used that has another outside it.

Note. — By "outside" is meant the cards on the right side of the right hand group, and those on the left side of the left hand group.

II. The foundations must follow suit.

Deal out the entire pack horizontally in two groups, as in tableau, beginning at the left hand, and dealing straight across each group, leaving space in the centre for four aces. These, when they can be played, form the foundation cards, and are to ascend in sequence to kings.

Should any aces appear on the outside of either group, play them, as also any other suitable cards for continuing the foundations (Rules I. and II.).

You next proceed to form marriages, both in ascending and in descending lines, with cards on the outside of both groups (Rule I.). But this must be done with extreme care, so as not only to release the greatest number of suitable cards, but also, if possible, to open out one entire horizontal row of cards to form a lane. The success of the game entirely depends on these lanes. If, therefore, you succeed in opening out one, it is more prudent not to re-fill it, until by some fresh combination others can be made.

When a lane is to be re-filled, select any available card (Rule I.), and place it at the inner end of the lane, and along it any others in sequence of the same suit, the last card being of course the available one. One great use of these lanes is, to reverse any sequences that have been made by marriages in the ascending line.

Note — Supposing you have placed upon a deuce a sequence ending with eight; place the eight at the inner end of the lane, the other cards following in succession till the deuce becomes the outside card. When there are more cards in the lane than the original number they can be placed partly over each other.

There is no re-deal.

DEAL out twenty-five cards in five rows, each containing five cards. The object is to compose the number fourteen with any two cards taken either from a perpendicular or from a horizontal row. The knave counts eleven, the queen twelve, and the king thirteen.

The cards so paired are withdrawn, and their places filled by the cards in your hand.

If in the course of the game the number fourteen cannot be com­posed, one chance remains.---any two cards may be taken from their proper position, and may change places with any other two cards, and it is only in making this exchange, so as to produce one or more fourteens, that the player has any control over the success of the game, the success consisting of the entire pack being paired off. In the tableau three fourteens could be at once composed : The ten of hearts with the four of clubs, the knave of spades with the three of hearts, the eight of diamonds with the six of spades.

THE foundations must follow suit.

Withdraw from the pack and place the eight kings and one ace of hearts as in tableau.

The centre king of hearts is called the Sultan, and remains alone. The other seven kings, with the ace of hearts, form the foundation cards. Each of these seven kings begins with ace, and ascends in sequence to queen. The ace of hearts ascends in the same manner, so that all the eight packets surrounding the Sultan end with queens.

You next deal out eight cards, four on either side (see tableau). These constitute the Divan. From this Divan you can play any suitable cards on the foundations, and having done so, proceed to deal out the remainder of the pack, turning the cards one by one, those that are not suitable for the foundations being laid aside in one packet forming the talon. Vacancies in the divan must be immediately re-filled from the talon, or when there is no talon, from the pack.

The talon may be taken up, shuffled and re-dealt if necessary twice.

I. THE foundations do not follow suit.

II. The talon may consist of four packets arranged at the player's discretion; but only the uppermost card of each is available, until those underneath are released in the usual manner.

Withdraw from the pack any ace, deuce, three, and four, and place them in a row, as in tableau. These are the foundation cards. The first or ace packet ascends in the usual sequence to king; the second packet ascends by twos, the third by threes, the fourth by fours — all the four packets terminating alike with kings.

In counting, the knave is reckoned as eleven, the queen as twelve, and the king as thirteen.

When, in forming the foundations, the number thirteen is passed (for it is never attained till it finishes each packet), the ace counts fourteen, the deuce fifteen, and so on. For example, in forming the second packet, when the number twelve or queen is reached, the next number required being fourteen, it is represented by ace, sixteen by three, and so on. This is difficult to describe, but may be understood by the numbers written on the tableau.

Having placed the foundations, deal out the cards in your hand, turning them one by one, playing all that are suitable on the foundations, the rest forming the talon (Rule II.).

On the judicious placing of this talon the success of the game depends, and a little practice is needed, to remember which cards will be required first, and to arrange the talon accordingly, for a card once placed cannot be transferred from one packet to another. The kings being wanted only to finish each foundation, it is advantageous to leave one packet for a time free to receive them; and, in forming the other packets, to avoid, as long as possible, covering the cards required first with those that will only be wanted later.

Note. — Some players wait, to place the foundation cards, until they appear in the course of the deal. This renders the game more interesting, but also more difficult, and in this manner it seldom succeeds.

There is no re-deal.

If this game should succeed, a sequel to it may be made as follows :­Take up the four foundation packets in order, placing the fourth on the third, the third on the second, and the second on the first, so that, on turning the cards to deal, the ace packet is uppermost.

Deal out thirteen cards in two horizontal rows, face downwards (see tableau, second part). Next deal a second round, beginning on the second card and continuing on every alternate card till all are covered; next deal a third round, beginning on the third, and continuing on every third card; next a fourth round beginning on the fourth, and continuing on every fourth card, each round, finishing on the thirteenth card.

Then turn the packets, and the cards will be found arranged, all of the same value together — four aces, four deuces, &c.

Note. — In the pattern tableau, No. I, all the talon packets are represented as being established, but before that was done some of the foundations would probably have been already begun. The eight and the queen would at any rate have been played on the fourth foundation.

I. THE Line is to consist of six packets, of which the uppermost card of each is alone available, until by its removal the one beneath is released — the card which is uppermost at the time being always the available one.

II. As many cards in each of the packets forming the Line may be examined as there are vacancies in the Flanks.

III. All the foundations must follow suit.

IV. In re-dealing, the Line packets must be taken up in succession, beginning on the left; then the whole together turned, and re-dealt as before.

Place two perpendicular rows of four cards each, called Flanks, leaving space in the centre for four aces and four kings of different suits. These, when they can be played, form the foundation cards, the kings descending in sequence to aces, the aces ascending in sequence to kings.

You next deal from left to right six packets, each composed of four cards dealt together, and placed in a horizontal line underneath. These packets are called the Line, and will receive successive additions.

If any of the foundation cards appear on the surface of the Line, or on the Flanks, play them in the spaces reserved; as also any other suitable cards subject to Rule I., taking, however, in preference, cards from the flanks, as the vacancies so made are most important.

Note. — So necessary to success are these vacancies that, if after dealing the first round of the Line none have been made, it is scarcely worth while to continue the game.

They may be filled from the pack or from the Line, but it is never prudent to fill up all vacancies; one at least should be left.

Single cards are not to be replaced on the Line; but if an entire packet has been played off, four more cards are to be immediately placed in its stead, and this rule applies to each several round.

When the resources thus far are exhausted, deal a second round of four cards together, on each of the Line packets as before, and con­tinue thus to deal successive rounds until all the cards are dealt out, but between each round pause, and examine the Line (Rule II.) and the Flanks, and play all available cards.

The whole of the pack having been dealt, and further progress at an end, take up the Line as prescribed in Rule IV., re-deal, and play exactly as at first.

There is only one re-deal.

In forming the foundations, one card at a time may be exchanged from the ascending to the descending sequences, and vice versâ.

I. ALL cards in the Army and Navy are equally available, if played in pairs i. e. one black and one red), but no card of either colour can be played on a foundation unless a card of the other colour is played at the same time on another foundation.

II. Vacancies in the Army and Navy must be immediately re-filled with cards of their own colour from the talon, or when there is no talon, from the pack.

III. Cards from the pack or talon cannot be played at once, but must first pass through the Army or Navy.

IV. The talon consists of two packets, one of red, the other of black cards.

V. The foundations must follow suit.

Withdraw from the pack the eight black aces and the eight black queens, the eight red kings and the eight red knaves.

Place these cards as in the tableau, throwing aside the four queens of spades and three queens of clubs.

The remaining queen of clubs represents the Empress, the knaves the guard of British soldiers, and these nine cards remain alone.

The eight black aces and the eight red kings are the foundation cards, the aces ascending in sequence to kings, representing Admirals, the kings descending in sequence to aces, representing Generals.

Note. — The red sequences must omit knaves, the black ones must omit queens.

Deal out four horizontal rows, each containing twelve cards, of which the two upper rows are to be red (the Army), the two lower ones black (the Navy).

They are to be dealt at the same time, and if after the two rows of one colour, say red, are finished, more red cards turn up, they must be laid aside as a talon (Rule IV.).

When the Army and Navy are complete, if any available pairs of cards have been dealt (Rule I.) play them (the first pair must of course be a black two and a red queen), and re-fill the spaces; but if there should be none, you may proceed to pair cards. Any card in the Army may be placed on any card in the Navy, and vice versa, but the cards so paired cannot afterwards be separated, but must be played at the same time on their respective foundations. The vacancies thus made must be immediately re-filled (Rule II.).

Each card can only be paired once.

You may choose your own time for pairing cards. For instance, if you require say a ten of clubs for one of the foundations you may defer making a vacancy in the Navy until the ten of clubs is at the top of the talon. When you have played all available cards, deal out the remainder of the pack, those not required to fill vacancies being placed in two packets (Rule IV.).

There is no re-deal.

Note. — The Army and Navy could not be placed in the tableau from want of space.

I. THE foundations are formed with cards from the Ramparts and from the pack. Cards from the talon must pass through the Reserve, and the Reserve must pass into the Ramparts before they can be played.

II. Cards in the Ramparts may be placed on each other either in the usual ascending and descending sequences, or in the order in which they will be played, viz. queen on two, knave on three, and so on, or vice versa. They must be of the same suit; and sequences, both in ascending and in descending lines, may be placed in the same packet.

Cards in the Ramparts may be transferred from one packet to another at discretion (the top card of each being alone available), and they must follow suit.

III. Cards in the Reserve may in the same way be placed on those in the Ramparts, but only on the cards at the ends or sides of the line from which they are taken.

Note. — In the tableau the four of clubs could only be placed on cards at A, B, C, or D, and in this case only on D.

IV. Vacancies in the Ramparts are filled from the Reserve, with any card in the row at the end of which the vacancy occurs.

Note. — In the tableau a vacancy at B or D could only be filled by the four or ace of clubs, or by the seven or six of spades; and a vacancy at A or C, by the ace of diamonds or by the three or four of clubs.

V. Vacancies in the Reserve are filled from the talon, or when there is no talon, from the pack.

VI. The foundations must follow suit.

Deal twelve cards in four rows of three cards each. Then deal an outside row of fourteen cards placed crossways. These are the "Ram­parts." The inside twelve cards are the "Reserve."

The foundation cards are four aces of different suits. On these are placed kings, then deuces, queens, threes and so on, each founda­tion consisting of alternate sequences, ascending and descending, and finishing as well as beginning with aces (Rule VI.).

Having placed the tableau, take from the Ramparts aces or other suitable cards (if any have been dealt) and play them in their allotted places, immediately filling each vacancy as it occurs (Rules IV. and V.); this must be done throughout the game. Then transfer cards in the Ramparts, and from the Reserve, as directed in Rules II. and III.

When you have done all that you wish (for it is optional), and again played if you can, deal out the remainder of the pack, the cards not suitable for the foundations being placed in a talon.

At the end of the patience, when the talon is exhausted and all the cards have been dealt, should there still be cards in the Reserve which cannot be transferred to the Ramparts, you may transpose them to effect this if you can.

This patience is exceedingly difficult.

I. ANY card in the Bouquet and the uppermost cards of the Parterre are available. The removal of the top cards releases those beneath.

II. The foundations must follow suit.

III. Cards placed in sequence on the Parterre need not follow suit.

Deal six packets of six cards dealt together, and so spread that all are visible. The four aces are the foundation cards, and are to ascend in sequence to kings (Rule II.).

Sixteen cards will remain, which are called the Bouquet, and must be kept in the hand. Take from the Bouquet and from the Parterre any aces or other suitable cards (Rule I.) and play them.

Next place cards in descending sequences in the Parterre, trans­ferring them from one packet to another as often as you please (Rules I. and III.), and you may place cards from the Bouquet in the same way.

For example, place the four of diamonds (see tableau) on the five of clubs, then take the ten of hearts from the Bouquet and place it on the knave of diamonds. The nine of clubs can now be transferred, and the ace and deuce of diamonds are released.

This patience is exceedingly difficult. Cards taken from the Bouquet cannot be returned to it, and there is only one deal. The greatest care must therefore be taken in placing cards in sequence and in playing them. You are not obliged to do either, and it is often better to leave a card than to play it, as it may be useful in releasing others.

When an entire packet is cleared off you may begin a new one with a card from the Bouquet or from the Parterre (Rule I.), and this is often the only means of removing a king, which, being the highest card, can never be transferred.