Solitaire strategy
The deal is luck, but how many deals you win comes down to your choices: which cards to uncover, when to use an empty column and when to leave a card where it is.
Maximising your win rate
Not every Klondike deal can be won, and no strategy changes that. What strategy changes is how many of the winnable deals you actually finish. Most lost games are lost on a handful of decisions: an empty column filled with the wrong king, a low card sent to the foundation too early, or a stock pile turned over before the tableau was worked through.
Early game
- Uncover face-down cards
- Work on the longest columns first: they hide the most cards. Prefer moves that free several cards in a row, and don’t empty a column just because you can.
- Treat empty columns as precious
- Only a king, or a run starting with a king, can fill one. When you have a choice, use the king that unblocks the most cards. Keeping a column empty for a while gives you the most room to move.
- Don’t rush the foundations
- Low cards such as 2s and 3s help build sequences in the tableau. Before moving one up, check whether you still need it to hold another card. A safe rule: keep each foundation within two ranks of the foundations of the opposite color.
Mid-game tactics
Think a move ahead
Before each move, ask three questions:
- Will it uncover a face-down card?
- Will it bury a card you need soon?
- Will it create an empty column, and is there a king ready to go into it?
Managing the stock
- Track the cycles. Remember which cards are coming up in the stock, so you know what you can wait for.
- Clear the blockers. Buried cards in the stock can take several passes to reach.
- Tableau first. Make every useful tableau move before you turn more stock cards.
Color balance
- Balance red and black. If one color is scarce in the tableau, free those cards first: they are what the other color needs to build on.
- Don’t starve the tableau. Long foundations leave fewer cards to build with.
- Keep alternating. Sequences that alternate cleanly leave the most building options.
Advanced techniques
Rearranging sequences
Sometimes the card you need is under a long run. Break the run up temporarily, moving part of it onto other columns, to reach the deeper card, then rebuild. An empty column makes this much easier: use it as a buffer to park a run while you rearrange the rest.
Knowing when a deal is lost
- Stock deadlock
- Every card in the stock is blocked and there are no moves left in the tableau.
- King lock
- Kings are sitting on the cards you need and there is no way to make an empty column for them.
- Buried essentials
- Aces and 2s are trapped under long sequences you cannot move.
Common mistakes
- Moving low cards up on reflex
- Aces are always safe to move up, but a 2 or 3 may still be needed in the tableau to hold a card of the other color.
- Ignoring color
- Too many sequences of the same color leave you with nowhere to put the next card.
- Wasting empty columns
- Filling one with a king that doesn’t free anything.
- Not planning the stock
- Missing cards that were about to come up.
- Tunnel vision
- Working on one column and missing moves elsewhere.
- Building foundations too early
- Moving up cards that are still needed to hold sequences together.
Draw one or draw three
| Draw one | Draw three | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical win rate | about 30–40% | about 15–20% |
| Feels like | forgiving, good for learning | needs real planning |
Playing draw one
- Concentrate on the tableau: every stock card will come round again.
- You can move cards to the foundations a little earlier without much risk.
- There is less planning around the stock order.
Playing draw three
- Keep track of the stock order carefully, since only every third card is reachable on each pass.
- Sometimes make a weaker move on purpose to change which stock cards you can reach.
- Keep more cards in the tableau for flexibility.
On this site
You choose Draw one or Draw three before each deal, and you can go through the stock as many times as you like.
Practice tips
- Play slowly. Take time over each move rather than playing on reflex.
- Review lost games. After a loss, think back over the deal and whether a different choice would have helped.
- Track your win rate. Count your wins over 100 games to see whether you are improving.
- Start with draw one. Get comfortable with draw one before moving on to draw three.
Ready to play?
Put these ideas to work on a fresh deal.