{{Short description|Card game}} {{Infobox card game |title = Sir Tommy |subtitle = A patience or card solitaire game |image_link = |image_caption = |alt_names = The Old Patience, Sir Tommy Patience, Try Again |NamedVariants= |deck = Single 52-card pack |Family = |type = [[Planner (patience)|Planner]] |odds = 1 in 5<ref name=MMS54>Morehead & Mott-Smith (2001), p. 54.</ref> |playing_time = 5 min<ref name=MMS54/> |footnotes = }} '''Sir Tommy''', also called '''Old Patience''', is a [[patience (game)|patience]] or solitaire [[card game]] using a single pack of 52 [[playing card]]s. It is said to be the ancestor of all patiences, hence its alternative title.<ref name=Parlett>Parlett (1979), p. 214.</ref> It is a half-open, planner type of patience game in the same family of card-building games as [[Calculation (solitaire)|Calculation]] and [[Strategy (patience)|Strategy]]. It is also known as '''Try Again'''<ref name=Parlett/> and '''Numerica'''. [[Ednah Cheney]] (1869) calls it '''Solitaire''' and says "it is the simplest form of patience".<ref>Cheney (1869), p. 2.</ref>
==Rules==
Cards are dealt one at a time. When an ace turns up, it forms a foundation which builds up to King regardless of suit. Four such foundations should be built. A card that cannot yet be placed on the foundation is placed onto one of four wastepiles; once placed, it cannot be moved, but the top card of each wastepile remains available to be placed on a foundation.<ref name=Parlett/>
The game is won if all cards are emptied from the wastepiles and built on the foundations.
== Strategy == To achieve a win, skilled players typically reserve one wastepile for Kings and for other high cards, and trying to avoid trapping a lower-ranked card under all four cards of some higher rank. With good play, it's possible to win 1 in 5 games.
== Variants == Many variants exist, including one where four cards are turned up at a time rather than one, and must all be placed before making other moves. '''[[Puss in the Corner]]''' has a slightly different layout, and is a very similar game except that building happens by colour rather than suit.
Closely related to Sir Tommy are '''Auld Lang Syne'''<ref>"Auld Lang Syne" (p.17) in ''The Little Book of Solitaire'', Running Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7624-1381-6}}</ref> and '''Tam O'Shanter''', both of which are considered nearly impossible to win; '''Old Fashioned''' and '''Acquaintance''' are both slightly easier versions of Auld Lang Syne.
In the less flexible '''Alternate''', the foundations are built in alternate colors, building one upwards, and the other downwards. Building happens by colour in the variant '''[[Colours (solitaire)|Colours]]''', with six waste-piles making the game easier.
'''Strategy''' is a Sir Tommy variant invented by [[Albert H. Morehead]] and [[Geoffrey Mott-Smith]], and uses eight tableau piles to make the game much easier. '''Last Chance''' is also easier courtesy of seven tableau piles and a reserve pile.<ref>Morehead & Mott-Smith (2001), pp. 99–100.</ref>
The popular patience game '''[[Calculation (solitaire)|Calculation]]''' is also derivative from Sir Tommy, and changes the goal to place cards on the foundations by increasing ranks of 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively, and is a game of great skill.
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Literature == * [[Cheney, Mrs. E. D.]] (1869). ''Patience: A Series of Games with Cards.'' 2nd edn, with additions. Boston: Lee & Shepard. NY: Lee, Shepard & Dillingham. * [[Parlett, David Sidney]] (1979). [https://archive.org/details/penguinbookofpat0000parl ''The Penguin Book of Patience'']. London: A. Lane {{isbn|0-7139-1193-X}} {{oclc|6633144}} * [[William Pole|Pole, W.]] (1875). "Games at Cards for One Player" in ''[[Macmillan’s Magazine]]''. January 1875, Toronto: Robarts. pp. 242 ff. Account of "The Old Patience". * [[Morehead, Albert H.]] and [[Geoffrey Mott-Smith]] (2001) [https://archive.org/details/completebookofso0000more ''The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience'']. Slough: Foulsham {{oclc|1357504346}} * [[Whitmore Jones, Mary]] (1888,90). "Old Tommy Patience" in ''Games of Patience for One or More Players''. 1st Series. London: L. Upcott Gill. pp. 9–10.
==See also== * [[Calculation (solitaire)|Calculation]] * [[Puss in the Corner]] * [[Colours (solitaire)|Colours]] * [[List of solitaires]] * [[Glossary of solitaire]]
{{Solitaire}}
[[Category:Single-deck patience card games]] [[Category:Planners (games)]]