Can One Card Be Taken from the Bottom of a Klondike Sequence?

Yes. The exposed bottom card of a tableau sequence may move by itself if it has a legal destination. You may also move a shorter tail that begins higher in the face-up sequence. What you cannot do is pull out an interior card while leaving cards below it suspended.

Consider Q♣–J♦–10♠–9♥. The single 9♥ may move onto 10♣. The tail 10♠–9♥ may move onto J♥. If you select J♦, however, the move includes J♦–10♠–9♥; J♦ cannot leave those lower cards behind.

The selected card becomes the head of the move

Every moved group must already descend by one rank and alternate colors. Its highest selected card must fit the destination exactly as a single card would.

For example, 8♣–7♦–6♠ can move onto 9♥. The shorter tail 7♦–6♠ can move onto 8♣ in another column. The single 6♠ can move onto 7♥. All three choices are legal if their destination is open.

Why splitting a sequence can help

Moving only the lower tail can expose a useful parent without dismantling more of the column than necessary. Suppose J♦ is needed to receive 10♣ from the waste. Moving 10♠–9♥ away leaves J♦ available while keeping the lower cards ordered elsewhere.

The same move can be harmful if it buries the tail under a card that will be difficult to release. Splitting is a tool for access, not automatically an improvement.

What remains illegal

You cannot move 10♠ alone from Q♣–J♦–10♠–9♥ while 9♥ remains beneath it. You also cannot move a tail that contains a broken link, such as 10♠–9♣: the ranks descend, but both cards are black.

A precise selection check

1. Identify the card you want as the head of the moved tail.
2. Include every card below it in that column.
3. Verify every rank-and-color link inside the tail.
4. Verify the head against the destination.
5. Compare what the shorter and longer move each expose.

Try selecting different tails in Play Klondike Draw 1 or Play Klondike Draw 3.

Sources used

• 1 PlaySoli implementation and editorial specification.
• 2 Current PlaySoli product rules: Solitaire Turn 1.
• 3 Current PlaySoli product rules: Solitaire Turn 3.