Fourteen Out

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card values
3. Setup
4. Playing
5. Winning
6. Tips for beginners
7. Variants

Overview

Fourteen Out is a simple patience (a card game for one player, also called solitaire). The whole deck lies face up on the table in twelve columns, and you clear it away in pairs of cards that add up to 14 – a King with an Ace, a 10 with a 4, two 7s. Nothing is hidden, so you can plan every move. Most games can be won with a little care, which makes it a good patience for children who can add up to 14.

• Players: 1
• You need: one standard 52-card deck, no jokers, and room for twelve columns.
• Time: about 5 minutes per game.

Card values

The Ace counts 1, the other number cards their face value. Suits don't matter: 9♣ + 5♥ is as good as 9♣ + 5♣.

Setup

1. Shuffle and deal all 52 cards face up into twelve columns (piles spread downwards so that every card can be seen), one card at a time from left to right, row after row.
2. The first four columns get five cards, the other eight get four cards.
3. In each column only the last card – the one nearest to you, not covered by any other card – is free. At the start, twelve cards are free.

Playing

There are no turns – you simply make one move after another:

1. Take two free cards that add up to 14 and put them aside, out of play. They may come from any two columns.
2. The card that lay above each removed card is now the last card of its column, so it becomes free.
3. Two cards in the same column can never pair with each other while one lies on the other – the lower one must go first with a partner from somewhere else.
4. An empty column stays empty; you don't fill it.

Example: In the layout above the free cards are 3♣, K♥, 10♠, 8♥, 7♦, 9♣, Q♦, J♥, 7♠, 9♦, 5♠ and 4♠. Remove 10♠ + 4♠: that frees the 3♠ and the A♦ – and the A♦ goes at once with the K♥. Next remove 7♦ + 7♠, which frees the 6♥ and the 4♣; the 6♥ pairs with the 8♥. Both the 9♣ and the 9♦ want the only free 5, the 5♠ – look at what lies above each 9 before you choose.

Winning

You win when all 52 cards have been paired off. If no two free cards add up to 14, the game is lost. Morehead and Mott-Smith gave the chance as about two games in three; a computer that plans perfectly wins about 93% of deals.

Tips for beginners

• Before your first move, look for pairs inside one column, such as a 9 lying on a 5 in the same column. The card on top must be taken away with another partner as soon as possible, or the pair blocks itself.
• Watch for crossed pairs: a 5 lies on an 8 in one column and a 6 on a 9 in another. The 8 and the 9 stay buried until the 5 and the 6 on them have gone – and those two need partners from elsewhere (another 9, another 8). Clear them early and don't use up the other 9s and 8s first.
• When you can choose between two cards of the same rank, take the one that frees the more useful card.
• Count: each rank has four cards, and every pair uses one card of each partner rank. The four 7s must pair among themselves.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Blind columns: square each column into a neat pile instead of spreading it, so you can only see the top cards. Much more luck, much less planning.
• Monte Carlo Fourteens: the same pairs, but laid out in a square – see the variants of Monte Carlo.