Russian Solitaire
Added 02/2026
Russian Solitaire: The Punishing Cousin of Yukon
By Martin Petroff
If you have played Yukon and Alaska and thought you had the "move any stack" mechanic completely figured out, Russian Solitaire is here to bring you back down to earth. This is widely considered one of the most notoriously difficult variations in the entire solitaire family, boasting a brutally low win rate. It takes the incredibly liberating movement rules of Yukon, but severely restricts your tableau building. Instead of the forgiving alternating-color rule, or Alaska's two-way building, Russian Solitaire forces you to build strictly in descending order by the exact same suit. It is an unforgiving, brain-burning puzzle where a single misplaced card can permanently lock your board.
How to Play
The Rules
The setup is identical to the rest of the Yukon family, meaning all 52 cards are on the board from the very beginning with no stockpile. The true challenge lies entirely in how you navigate the strict suit requirements.
The Objective: Your goal is to move all 52 cards into the four "Foundation" piles at the top of the board, building them up by suit from Ace to King.
The Setup (The Tableau):
Shuffle a standard 52-card deck. There will be no stockpile.
Deal the cards into seven columns from left to right.
Column 1: Receives 1 card face up.
Columns 2 through 7: Receive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 cards dealt face down, respectively.
The Final Deal: Deal 5 face-up cards onto the bottom of columns 2 through 7. (All 52 cards are now actively on the board).
How to Play:
The Brutal Building Rule: You must build the tableau columns in strictly descending order by the exact same suit. (For example, a 7 of Hearts can only be placed onto an 8 of Hearts. You cannot place it on an 8 of Diamonds, or a 9 of Hearts).
The "Move Anything" Rule: This is your only lifeline. You can grab any face-up card in a column and move it, dragging every single card sitting on top of it along for the ride, regardless of how messy the stack is. The only requirement is that the bottom-most card of the group you are moving forms a valid descending, same-suit match with its target.
The Trap: Because you must build by the same suit, creating long sequences in the tableau is incredibly difficult. You have to use the "move anything" rule surgically, temporarily shuffling massive stacks just to uncover the specific buried card you need.
Revealing Cards: Whenever a face-down card at the bottom of a column is fully exposed, flip it face up to put it into play.
Empty Columns: If you manage to completely clear one of your seven columns, you can only move a King (and whatever stack of cards is attached to it) into that empty space. Guard these spaces carefully; they are vital for un-stucking your board!