FreeCell, deal #23

Deal #23 is among the hardest deals in this series. Our solver won it in a line of 69 moves, so it can certainly be won.

Notes on this deal

• 1 Ace lies uncovered at the end of a column, ready to go home with your first move.
• One Ace is buried four or more cards deep: column 6 holds it under 5 cards. Dig there early.
• 3 pairs of cards already lie in order in the columns, a head start worth keeping.
• This deal punishes autopilot. A test play of the obvious moves gets just 3 of 52 cards home before it is stuck.
• The solver's line parks a card in a free cell 13 times and fills an empty column 14 times.

Stuck? The solver's first moves

These are the first moves of the solver's winning line, with automatic moves to the foundations switched on.

#	Card	From	To
1	10♦	column 3	free cell
2	10♣	column 5	free cell
3	5♦	column 2	6♠, column 4
4	J♠	column 2	Q♥, column 7
5	4♥	column 2	5♣, column 3
6	10♦	free cell	J♠, column 7

FreeCell in a nutshell

All cards are face up. Build the foundations by suit from Ace, build the eight columns down in alternating colours, and use the four free cells to hold one card each. Any card may fill an empty column.

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