Historia
The name Pyramid first belonged to a different patience: fifteen cards laid out in a triangle that did not overlap, an ancestor of the game now called Carpet. The game of pairs that make thirteen, dealt as an overlapping pyramid, is almost certainly an American invention, and its earliest known descriptions date from the late 1920s.
Dean Bryden's Fun With Cards (1927) may be its first appearance in print, under the name Elizabeth's Solitaire, and Johnson and Pope's 30 Games of Solitaire (1928) may be the first book to call it Pyramid. Writers of the next decade also knew it as the Tower of Twenty-Eight, and they did not agree on the details: some allowed the waste to be dealt again and some did not, and some counted the game won once the pyramid was gone while others wanted every card of the pack removed.
Albert H. Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith's The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience Games (1949) helped make Pyramid part of the standard repertoire of patience games. The same book introduced Par Pyramid, in which the waste is dealt again twice and each deal is scored. The rules played here follow that line: three passes through the stock and a win for clearing the pyramid, with options for one or two passes and for clearing the whole pack.
Na świecie
- Pyramid Patience
- Tower of Twenty-Eight
- Pile of Twenty-Eight
- Elizabeth's Solitaire
Strategia
Pyramid looks like a game of pure luck, but with every pyramid card in view there is plenty to plan.
Look Before You Pair
Before you remove a pair, see which cards it frees. One pair may free a single card higher up, another may free two. Cards near the top of the pyramid are the hardest to reach, so favour pairs that open the way up.
Partners That Block Each Other
A card can never pair with a card it lies on, because the lower card is not free until the upper one has gone. When a 6 lies on a 7, each of them needs another partner. Spot these pairs early and keep a partner in reserve for both.
Count the Values
There are four cards of each value. If three Queens are buried high in the pyramid, the Aces are precious: do not spend one on a Queen from the stock while a pyramid Queen still needs it.
The Pyramid Comes First
The pyramid is what you have to clear. Pairing a stock card with a waste card helps only when it brings a card the pyramid needs closer, so do not use up values the pyramid still needs.
Use the Stock Order
When you turn the waste over, it keeps its order. On the second and third passes you know which card comes next, so you can hold a pyramid card back for a partner you know is on its way.
Kings in the Stock
A King from the stock or the waste needs no partner. Remove it as soon as it turns up: it costs nothing and brings the next card into play.
Warianty
Pyramid has a few common rule changes, and the setup here offers the main ones.
One Pass
You go through the stock once only, with no redeal. Several early books played it this way, and it is the hardest form. Offered here as a setup option.
Two Passes
The waste may be turned over once, for two passes through the stock. Offered here as a setup option.
Whole Deck
The game is won only when all 52 cards are removed, stock and waste included. Some rule books treat this as the standard game and call the pyramid-only goal Relaxed Pyramid. Offered here as a setup option.
Par Pyramid
Three deals through the stock, with points for clearing the pyramid on each deal and penalties for cards left in the waste.
Pyramid Golf
The same 28-card pyramid, cleared one card at a time onto a waste pile by playing one rank up or down, as in Golf.
Tri Peaks
Three overlapping peaks, with some cards face down, cleared one rank up or down onto the waste. It is a modern relative of both Golf and Pyramid.
Najczęściej zadawane pytania
Ace and Queen, 2 and Jack, 3 and 10, 4 and 9, 5 and 8, and 6 and 7. An Ace counts 1, a Jack 11 and a Queen 12. A King counts 13 by itself and is removed on its own.