Free column multiplier in FreeCell (deal 111)

(Originally posted on Thursday, 3 December 2020)

FreeCell is by far the best solitaire I have ever played. All cards are visible, but you still have to think! There are hardly any impossible deals, but there are many deals that can be won only by going through a very narrow path.

There is one thing that some people are not aware of – there is a free column multiplier that allows you to move much more cards than without any free column. Without any free column you can move from 1 to 5 cards, depending on the number of free cells. With 1 free column you can move from 2 to 10 cards!

Example 1 – 1 free cell and 1 free column:

5,4,3,2
2 up
3 to the free column
2 on 3
4 up
5 on 6
4 on 5
2 up
3 on 4
2 on 3

FOUR cards moved with only 1 free cell and 1 free column!


Example 2 – 2 free cells and 1 free column:

7,6,5,4,3,2
2 up
3 up
4 to the free column
3 on 4
2 on 3
5 up
6 up
7 on 8
6 on 7
5 on 6
2 up
3 up
4 on 5
3 on 4
2 on 3

SIX cards moved with 2 free cells and 1 free column!

EIGHT cards moved with 3 free cells and 1 free column!

TEN cards moved with 4 free cells and 1 free column!

Below there is a fantastic example of a deal that isn't obvious and requires lots of ordering. The number of the deal is very easy to remember: 111. Please notice that I showed you on two different occasions that the same move was not possible with 2 free cells, but was possible with 1 free cell and 1 free column!



As you can see when almost everything is in order then freeing the last blocked low card ends the game automatically! I LOVE this game!