# Opening the TriPeaks peaks: which cards to clear first At the start of a TriPeaks deal, ten peak cards are face up and 18 are face down. Which peak should you start on? None of the three is special in itself. What matters is which plays turn cards face up, because a face-down card can never be played, and every card that turns over is one more option for your chains. ## How the peaks are built In [TriPeaks](../play/tripeaks.html) the 28 peak cards sit in four rows of 3, 6, 9 and 10. The bottom row of ten starts face up, and every other card turns face up when no card covers it any more. Each card above the bottom row is covered by the two cards just below it. Here is the layout, with L, M and R for the left, middle and right peaks and the bottom row numbered 1 to 10: ``` L M R L L M M R R L L L M M M R R R 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ``` A few things follow from it: - **Two neighbouring bottom cards uncover the card above them.** Clear four neighbours in a row and three cards turn over; clear three cards with gaps between them and none do. - **The end cards, positions 1 and 10, help uncover only one card each.** Every other bottom card helps uncover two. - **Positions 4 and 7 are shared.** Position 4 sits under a card of the left peak and a card of the middle peak; position 7 under a card of the middle peak and one of the right. - **A peak's top card opens last.** Nine cards must be cleared beneath it first: four in the bottom row, three in the third row and two in the second. As always, you may play any face-up, uncovered card that is exactly one rank higher or lower than the top waste card, regardless of suit, and a King and an Ace count as neighbours. ## Worked example: two chains of three The waste shows 5♠, and the bottom row reads from position 1 to 10: ``` J♣ 6♥ 7♣ 8♦ Q♠ 4♦ K♥ 3♣ 10♠ 2♥ ``` Two cards fit the 5♠: the 6♥ and the 4♦. To keep it simple, assume none of the cards that turn over fits the chain. - **Going up:** 6♥, 7♣, 8♦. Positions 2, 3 and 4 are neighbours, so two third-row cards of the left peak turn face up: the ones above positions 2–3 and 3–4. - **Going down:** 4♦, 3♣, 2♥. Positions 6, 8 and 10 are separated by cards that stay, so nothing turns over. Both chains are three cards long, but after the up line you have nine uncovered face-up cards to choose from, and after the down line only seven. The up line also clears position 4, a shared card: the middle peak's first third-row card now needs only the Q♠ at position 5 to go. The new cards are also fresh chances for the chain itself. The waste shows 8♦ after the up line, so if either new card is a 7 or a 9, you play on. A card that stays face down can never give you that chance. Meanwhile the 4♦, 3♣ and 2♥ stay on the table as a small run, and a later 5 or Ace on the waste could take all three. ## Spread the work, but in pairs Keeping all three peaks moving is good advice, but it does not mean scattering single cards around the table, as the down line shows. A card turns over only when both cards beneath it have gone, so finish pairs of neighbours, then move on. Why keep the peaks level at all? A peak you have not touched keeps its six cards face down. Leave one peak until late in the round and its cards turn over when you have few draws left, so you find out what they need just when you can least afford to wait for it. Opening each peak early spreads those surprises across the round, and the shared positions 4 and 7 make progress in two peaks at once. When two plays are otherwise equal, prefer: 1. The one that completes a pair of neighbours and turns a card over. 2. A shared bottom card, position 4 or 7, over an end card, position 1 or 10. 3. The peak with more face-down cards left. The Hint button (H) highlights one legal move without playing it, but it does not tell you why. Make this check yourself first. ## Try it The waste shows 10♦, and the bottom row reads: ``` 9♣ 4♥ 2♦ 5♠ 8♥ 3♣ J♠ Q♥ K♣ 7♦ ``` Find the two chains of three cards and decide which to play. Again, assume nothing that turns over fits. **Answer:** Going down, 9♣, 8♥, 7♦ (positions 1, 5 and 10) turns nothing over. Going up, J♠, Q♥, K♣ (positions 7, 8 and 9) turns over two cards of the right peak, so play that one. It also clears position 7, and the middle peak's third-row card above positions 6 and 7 now needs only the 3♣ to go. For choosing between two cards that both fit, see [TriPeaks chains](tripeaks-chains.html), and the [glossary](../glossary.html) explains terms such as stock and waste.