solitaire

Have some way when you play the game

On line two (and also throughout the chart) I use the phrase "frees a downcard". The Solitaire board initially has seven upcards (face-up) on top of seven increasingly bigger stacks of downcards (face-down) for a total of 28 board cards (7 upcards, 21 downcards). When you free a downcard you are making a play or transfer that allows one of these downcards to be turned face-up, therefore putting it into play. As you can see in the Solitaire strategy guide on almost every strategy line, freeing downcards is one of the most important tools in solving the game. If you cannot do so on a consistent basis, your chances for success will be greatly decreased. Free those downcards at any cost!

      Line three also extends this logical concept with the addition that if faced with a choice you should free the downcard from the biggest pile of downcards possible. This should make sense to you immediately. If freeing downcards is so important, wouldn't it be your goal to dig into the pile that has the most of them if you can? It better be now! With these simple but highly effective strategy concepts, you now have an excellent grasp of the game and how to defeat it. But let's continue on to discover some of the finer points of this strategy guide that will help you defeat this increasingly not-so-difficult game for one and bring the win home.

      An interesting term I have used in Klondike solitaire turn one strategy line seven on the chart is Next Card Protection. What this means is that whenever you are building your Ace stacks (playing an Ace above the Solitaire board and then proceeding to play additional cards onto it), you may sometimes be able to play many more cards to one particular stack instead of another. For example, say you have the opportunity to play the 4 of spades to the Spades Ace stack. Before you do, you consult the Solitaire strategy chart and find line seven. The first item advises against playing a card to an Ace stack unless it will preserve the Next Card Protection. This means that unless there is a spot on the board for the next lowest cardbelow the potential Ace stack card, you should not play the card to its Ace stack. In this case there must be either another black four (the 4 of clubs) on the board, both red threes already played to their Ace stacks, or both red threes already played to the board. In all of these instances, you have protected the next card below the 4 of Spades because if a red three comes up you have ensured that it will be able to be played (you've left a "spot" open for them). This is the concept of Next Card Protection.

      It is particularly of importance to maintain Deuce Protection. This would mean that you should delay the playing of a Three to an Ace stack in order to keep the availability of a spot for a Deuce to be played to unless both the applicable Deuces had already been played or were being protected due to the other Three being available on the Board. Protect you Deuces or you'll be kicking yourself later!