Agnes Bernauer♠

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Bernauer, not Sorel

Agnes has named two related patiences. David Parlett distinguished Agnes Bernauer from Agnes Sorel. This guide selects Bernauer: alternating colours, seven reserve piles and restricted spaces. Sorel builds differently; its rules should not be mixed into Bernauer’s reserve game. The historical namesake does not prove a medieval origin for the game.

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Deal

Use 52 cards without jokers. Turn one onto the first foundation: its rank starts all foundations. Deal seven face-up columns of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 cards, totalling 28. Deal one face-up card to each of seven reserve piles. The stock now has 16 cards. Covered tableau cards remain visible, but only free tops and legal sequences can move.

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Cyclic foundations

Each foundation begins with an available card of the base rank in its own suit. Build upward in suit, wrapping K→A. With a 5♥ base, the order is 5–6–7–8–9–10–J–Q–K–A–2–3–4. Each foundation ends after 13 cards. For an unambiguous profile, foundation cards cannot return to the tableau.

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Tableau and transfers

Build tableau columns downward in alternating red and black. Ranks wrap here too: a black K can go on a red A. Move an exposed top or a correctly descending alternating-colour sequence to a suitable exposed top in another column. An irregular group cannot move together just because all its cards are visible.

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Filling an empty column

An empty column accepts only a card one rank below the foundation base, or a legal sequence headed by that rank. A 5 base requires a 4; an A base requires a K. Apply the restriction to the leading card of a moved group. Empty reserve places are not free cells.

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Reserve and stock

Only the top of each reserve pile may play, onto a foundation or a suitable column. You cannot build onto reserves. To release new cards, deal one stock card onto every reserve pile; covered reserve cards become available again after the new tops leave. After the initial reserve, stock supplies two full deals of 7 and a final 2 cards. Expose the final 2 separately, both available, following the selected Solitaire Forever procedure. No redeal.

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Finish and alternatives

Win with all 52 cards on the four foundations. Once stock and productive moves are exhausted, incomplete foundations mean a loss; repeating transfers does not change that. There is no timer or draw. Recycling reserves, allowing any rank into spaces or building in the same colour belong to other variants.

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Two different opportunities

The heart foundation shows 5♥ and a reserve top is 6♥. Move 6♥ to the foundation, making 5♥–6♥. An exposed 4♣ could fill a space because it is one rank below the original base 5. Advancing the foundation to 6 does not change the space rule: it still requires a 4, not a 5.

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Common questions