Rules
Alhambra Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use two standard 52-card decks, for 104 cards total.
- Start the foundations with one ace and one king of each suit.
- Ace foundations build upward by suit from ace to king.
- King foundations build downward by suit from king to ace.
- Deal eight reserve piles of four face-up cards each.
- Only the top card of each reserve pile is available.
- The remaining 64 cards form the stock.
- Draw one stock card at a time to the waste.
- The top waste card can move to a foundation.
- A top reserve card can move to a foundation or onto the waste.
- Reserve-to-waste moves must match suit and be one rank higher or lower, with ace-king wrapping.
- You may turn the waste into a new stock twice, without shuffling.
- Win by moving all 104 cards to the foundations.
How to play
How to play Alhambra Solitaire
Alhambra Solitaire is a two-deck foundation game with a small visible reserve and a very important waste pile. The aim is simple to say: move every card to eight foundations. The tension comes from how little you can rearrange. Reserve cards do not build on each other, empty reserve piles do not refill, and the waste card can help or block the next reserve move.
The board starts with eight foundations already seeded: one ace and one king of every suit. The ace foundations climb in suit, while the king foundations descend in suit. Beneath them are eight reserve piles of four cards. You can see all reserve cards, but only each pile's top card can move.
Setup
The layout on this page
This version removes one ace and one king of each suit before the reserve is dealt. Those eight cards become the starting foundations. Then 32 cards are dealt face up into eight reserve piles, four cards per pile. The last 64 cards form the stock.
The reserve piles are not tableau columns. You are not trying to build sequences there. They are a queue of exposed cards, and every move from a pile reveals the card directly beneath it.
Foundations
Ace-up and king-down foundations
Each suit has two foundations. The ace-up side wants A, 2, 3, and onward to king. The king-down side wants K, Q, J, 10, and downward to ace. Suits never mix, and foundation moves never wrap.
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A clean Alhambra game keeps both directions alive. If the ace-up hearts foundation climbs quickly while the king-down hearts foundation is starved, middle hearts can become awkward because they have only one practical route home.
Moves
Legal and illegal Alhambra moves
A top reserve card has two possible destinations. It can move to the next matching foundation, or it can move onto the waste when it matches the waste card's suit and is one rank higher or lower. The waste rule wraps, so an ace can accept a king of the same suit and a king can accept an ace of the same suit.
The top waste card is more limited. It can move to a foundation, but it cannot move back to the reserve and it cannot be tucked underneath another waste card by itself. The only way the waste changes is by drawing from the stock, redealing the waste, or moving a reserve card onto it.
Foundation2 of hearts onto the ace-up hearts foundation
FoundationQueen of clubs onto the king-down clubs foundation
Waste7 of spades from a reserve pile onto the 8 of spades waste card
Waste wrapKing of diamonds from reserve onto the ace of diamonds waste card
IllegalA buried reserve card, even if its rank fits
IllegalMoving a waste card back to the reserve
Reserve
How reserve piles really work
The reserve is visible but not free. A buried 4 of clubs may be exactly what the club foundation needs, but it does not exist as a playable card until every card above it has moved away. That makes top-card order the main puzzle.
Empty reserve piles stay empty. You cannot use them as holding spaces, and you cannot move a card from one reserve pile to another. When a reserve card leaves, it should either feed a foundation or set up the waste to release more reserve cards.
Stock
How the stock, waste, and redeals work
Draw one card at a time from the stock to the waste. The top waste card can move to a foundation if it is the next card of that suit and direction. It also becomes the target for reserve cards, which is why the waste can be a bridge instead of just a discard pile.
When the stock is empty, the waste can be turned over without shuffling to become a new stock. This page allows two such redeals, giving you three passes through the stock order. Cards you moved from the reserve onto the waste become part of that future stock order.
Strategy
Alhambra Solitaire strategy that actually helps
Start by scanning for foundation moves. A reserve card that can move straight to a foundation is usually better than a reserve card that merely fits the waste, because it leaves the game permanently and reveals the next reserve card without covering anything useful.
Treat the waste as a tool, not a trash pile. A reserve-to-waste move is strongest when it uncovers a foundation card or changes the waste to a rank that accepts another reserve top. It is weak when it covers a waste card that was close to a foundation or when it moves a card from a pile whose next card is not useful.
Balance the suits. Because every suit has one foundation moving up and one moving down, the middle ranks need both sides to advance. If a suit stalls around 6, 7, or 8, look for waste moves that expose the missing bridge cards rather than pushing only the obvious low or high cards.
Before each redeal, move every safe waste foundation card you can. Redealing preserves the waste order rather than shuffling it, so the cards you leave in the waste decide the rhythm of the next pass. A careless reserve-to-waste move can come back as the card that blocks the next stock run.
Mistakes
Common Alhambra Solitaire mistakes
- Using the waste as a default destination instead of checking foundations first.
- Forgetting that only the top card of each reserve pile can move.
- Missing the king-ace wrap on the waste pile.
- Expecting the foundations to wrap between ace and king.
- Covering a waste card that was one move away from a foundation.
- Redealing before clearing obvious waste and reserve foundation moves.
- Treating empty reserve piles like spaces that can be filled later.
Difficulty
Is Alhambra Solitaire winnable?
Alhambra is not guaranteed from a random shuffle. The whole reserve is visible, but the movable part of it is narrow: only eight top cards are available at any time. The stock gives repeated chances, yet every waste move changes the order you will see on later passes.
This page does not publish a win percentage because a real number should be measured against this exact implementation: two decks, eight four-card reserve piles, wrapped same-suit waste moves, seeded foundations, and two redeals.
Scoring
How Alhambra Solitaire is scored here
The win condition is foundation completion: all 104 cards must reach the eight foundations. The game tracks moves, foundation progress, stock cards, waste cards, reserve cards, and remaining redeals so you can read why a deal is improving or getting stuck.
A low move count is not always the best sign in Alhambra. Sometimes the right play is a waste move that seems indirect because it reveals a buried reserve card or creates a better stock order for the next pass.
Variants
Alhambra variants and house rules
Rule references for Alhambra usually agree on the central idea: two decks, seeded ace-up and king-down foundations, eight reserve piles, a draw-one stock, reserve cards that can build onto the waste, and two redeals. The detail worth checking is the waste rule. This page allows king-to-ace wrapping on the waste, while foundations themselves remain strict.
Related names such as The Reinforcements and Granada appear in patience references as variants of Alhambra. This page is not trying to combine them. It plays one clear Alhambra ruleset so the board, hints, strategy, and guide all describe the same game.
Nearby games
How Alhambra compares with Crazy Quilt, Crescent, and Algerian
Alhambra and Crazy Quilt are close relatives in feel because both let reserve cards move to foundations or onto the waste. Crazy Quilt makes availability spatial: a card needs an open short edge in the woven layout. Alhambra makes availability stack-based: a card needs to be on top of one of the eight reserve piles.
Crescent also uses paired ace-up and king-down foundations, but its reserve piles rotate through reshuffles instead of feeding a waste pile. Algerian is more sprawling, with reserve piles plus tableau depots. If the waste puzzle is what you enjoy in Alhambra, Crazy Quilt is the closest next step. If the paired foundations are the hook, Crescent is a natural follow.