Solitaire Board Game

Popular in the court of Louis the XIV, the game was apparently invented by a nobleman incarcerated in the Bastille in France in the 17th century. Though little evidence can be found to support this tale, there can be no doubt that Solitaire became one of the more popular and challenging parlour games of the past few hundred years. The board consists of holes into which pegs or marbles are placed, with one hole left unoccupied in the middle of the board. The objective is simply to remove all but one of the marbles/pegs from the board by 'bunny hopping' one piece over another, similar to how pieces are taken in Draughts. However, the games simple aim belies its strategic complexity, and it takes a lot of careful thought and planning to clear the board. Even when a player has managed to beat the game, there is always more challenge to be found in reducing the number of moves made - the minimum number of moves to win has been a popular subject in mathematical literature for many years. Jaques' smallest board in our premium range, the 9" Black Walnut Solitaire, features a hand turned base constructed from solid American Walnut, complete with hand turned feet and includes a full set of 32 luxury laser crystal glass playing marbles in an attractive soft carry bag.