# Which Klondike move should you make first?

You have just dealt a game of Klondike and three or four moves are already on offer. Which one should you play first? Most of the time the answer comes from a single question: which move turns over a face-down card, and how many hidden cards are still waiting in that column?

## What the deal hides

A Klondike deal has seven tableau columns. Column 1 holds one card and column 7 holds seven, but only the top card of each column is face up. That leaves 21 face-down cards (0 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6) in the tableau and 24 in the stock. To win, every hidden card has to be turned over sooner or later, so most opening decisions are really about which hidden card to reach next.

## A working order of priorities

1. **Play Aces to the foundations at once.** An Ace can only ever start a foundation, so there is no reason to keep one in the tableau.
2. **Play 2s once their Ace is up.** The only card that can go on a 2 in the tableau is an Ace of the other colour, and Aces belong on the foundations, so a 2 is never needed as a landing spot.
3. **Prefer moves that turn over a face-down card.** Each one gives you a new card to work with.
4. **When several moves turn a card, choose the column with the most face-down cards.** Column 7 starts with six hidden cards and column 2 with only one. Opening the long columns early gives the cards buried there the most time to come into play.
5. **Only empty a column when a King can use it.** Only a King, or a run headed by a King, may fill an empty column. Until a King is ready, the card you moved away may have been more useful where it was.

## Worked example: an opening position

Here is a deal, with the number of face-down cards under each top card:

- Column 1: 6♣ (none hidden)
- Column 2: 8♥ (1 hidden)
- Column 3: A♦ (2 hidden)
- Column 4: 7♦ (3 hidden)
- Column 5: Q♠ (4 hidden)
- Column 6: 5♥ (5 hidden)
- Column 7: 7♠ (6 hidden)

Four moves are legal: A♦ to its foundation; 7♠ onto 8♥ (a black 7 on a red 8); 5♥ onto 6♣ (a red 5 on a black 6); and 6♣ onto 7♦ (a black 6 on a red 7). Following the priorities:

1. **A♦ first.** It costs nothing and turns a card in column 3.
2. **7♠ onto 8♥ next.** Column 7 has six hidden cards, more than any other column.
3. **Then 5♥ onto 6♣.** Column 6 has five hidden cards, the next most.
4. **Leave the 6♣ where it is for now.** The run 6♣ 5♥ is in descending alternating order, so it could move onto the 7♦ as a unit, but that would empty column 1 without turning anything over, and the only high card on show is the Q♠, which cannot fill an empty column. Keep the move in reserve.

After each move, look at the card that turned over before carrying on. If column 7 turns up a King, for example, emptying column 1 suddenly has a purpose: move the 6♣ and anything on it onto the 7♦, put the King in column 1, and column 7 turns over yet another card.

## When to send a card up, and when to keep it

Higher cards need a moment's thought, because every tableau card is also a possible home for a card one rank lower in the other colour. A useful test: a card is safe to send up when both cards of the other colour one rank lower are already on the foundations, because then nothing can ever need to be placed on it.

Suppose the hearts foundation has reached 4♥, the clubs foundation 3♣ and the spades foundation 2♠. A 5♥ is on top of a column, and a 4♠ is face up elsewhere looking for a home. Neither black 4 is on a foundation yet, so the 5♥ fails the test, and sending it up would remove one of only two places (5♥ and 5♦) where the 4♠ can go. Leave the 5♥ in the tableau until the 4♠ has found a home.

## The stock

When the tableau offers nothing useful, draw. Recycles are unlimited, so a look through the stock is never wasted, although each draw and recycle counts as a move. Do not play a waste card just because it fits: ask whether it helps turn a card over or reach a foundation. Draw 3 changes which stock cards you can reach; see [Draw 1 or Draw 3](draw-one-or-draw-three.html). If you are unsure, Hint highlights one legal move without playing it; see [hints and undo](hints-and-undo.html).

## Try it

Decide the order of your first moves before reading the answer:

- Column 1: 9♦ (none hidden)
- Column 2: 3♣ (1 hidden)
- Column 3: 10♠ (2 hidden)
- Column 4: A♠ (3 hidden)
- Column 5: 8♣ (4 hidden)
- Column 6: 2♥ (5 hidden)
- Column 7: 9♥ (6 hidden)

**Answer:** A♠ to the foundation first. Then 9♥ onto 10♠, turning a card in column 7; the 9♦ could also go on the 10♠, but that would only empty column 1 with no King to fill it. Next 2♥ onto 3♣ (column 6, five hidden), then 8♣ onto either red 9 (column 5, four hidden). Four moves, four cards turned over.

Practise in [Klondike Draw 1](../play/klondike.html) or [Klondike Draw 3](../play/klondike-draw-three.html), and find terms in the [glossary](../glossary.html) and more tips on the [strategy page](../strategy.html).