Forty Thieves & two-deck builders · Grand Plaza
Two shuffled decks are dealt into eight tableau rows of four cards each. Build the eight foundation piles up by suit from Ace to King. Move single top cards onto tableau rows built down regardless of suit. Draw from the stock one card at a time — the stock may only be dealt once, so plan ahead.
Select a top card, then choose a highlighted destination.
Stock · 72
Waste · 0
♣ 1
♣ 2
♦ 1
♦ 2
♥ 1
♥ 2
♠ 1
♠ 2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Diplomat Solitaire is a two-deck patience game in the Forty Thieves family. Like Napoleon at St Helena, it uses a single-pass stock and eight foundations building Ace to King by suit. The key difference: Diplomat builds tableau sequences downward regardless of suit (any suit on any suit, one rank lower), rather than same-suit only. Its broader landing rule creates more tableau transfers, while the stock still offers just one pass.
Two 52-card decks (104 cards). Eight tableau columns each receive four face-up cards (32 total). The remaining 72 cards form the stock, dealt one at a time to a waste pile; the stock cannot be recycled. Eight foundations build upward by suit from Ace to King. Tableau columns build downward by rank, any suit. Only one card moves at a time (no groups). Win when all 104 cards reach the foundations.
Napoleon at St Helena (same-suit only) gives each card fewer legal tableau destinations. Diplomat (any suit) gives each card potentially many more destinations — any card one rank higher, regardless of suit. This dramatically reduces blockage compared to Napoleon at St Helena when matching ranks are exposed.
The single-pass stock still matters: a new draw covers the current waste top until cards above it can be played.
The stock can only be used once, so every draw is a one-time opportunity. Before drawing, check whether available tableau moves would expose cards that could receive the next stock card. Using tableau moves to create better positions before drawing is the primary rhythm of Diplomat play.
Unlike Napoleon at St Helena, Diplomat permits any-suit descending transfers. Check which transfer exposes a needed card before drawing; moving a card between equivalent columns without changing access has little value.
Diplomat is part of Grand Plaza · Forty Thieves & two-deck builders and is a variant of Napoleon at St Helena.
