In Nine Across, your first foundation card is also your most important decision.
The first card you send to any foundation sets the base rank for all four suits. That choice determines the full wrapping sequence, which rank fills empty columns, and which cards become urgent for the rest of the game. Most players rush this decision; the best players treat it as the opening move of a planned sequence.
Last updated: May 2026
History and background
Nine Across belongs to the same Canfield family as Agnes and Eagle’s Wing: all three use a base-rank foundation mechanic where foundations start at a chosen or revealed rank rather than at Ace, and build upward in a wrapping cycle. What distinguishes Nine Across is that the base rank is not randomly revealed by the deal — you choose it yourself by deciding which card to play to a foundation first.
The game derives its name from the nine-column triangle layout: columns of one through nine cards, all face-up. The triangle provides full information on the initial 45 cards. A reserve pile and stock supply the remaining seven cards. The combination of open information, player- chosen base rank, and restricted empty-column fill makes Nine Across an unusually strategic game for its family.
How the game is set up
One 52-card deck is used.
- Tableau. Forty-five cards are dealt face-up into nine columns (one card in column one, nine cards in column nine). All cards are visible. Only the top card of each column is available to move.
- Foundations. Four empty foundation piles begin the game. The first card played to any foundation becomes the base rank for all four suits. Foundations then build up by suit in a wrapping cycle from the base rank through King, then Ace, then up to the rank one below the base.
- Empty column fill rank. Empty tableau columns accept only cards of the rank one below the base rank. If the base rank is 7, empty columns accept 6s only. This restriction applies for the entire game once the base rank is set.
- Tableau sequences. Build downward in alternating colours. Only top cards move unless the whole column is one sequential run, in which case partial group moves may be supported depending on the rules variant.
- Reserve and stock. The remaining 7 cards form a reserve pile with the top card available, alongside a stock that deals one card at a time to a waste pile. Both the reserve top and the waste top are available to play at any time.
Choosing the base rank: the strategic opening decision
Before making any move, scan the full nine-column layout. For each possible base rank, ask two questions: first, how many cards of that rank are visible on column tops right now (the more, the faster the foundations can start)? Second, what rank would fill empty columns (one below the base), and how often does that rank appear throughout the tableau?
A base rank of 7 means 6s fill empty columns. If sixes are deeply buried across several columns, empty columns will be hard to use productively for the whole game. A base rank of 4 means 3s fill empty columns — if several 3s are visible on tops or in the reserve, empty columns become highly accessible. The ideal base rank is one whose immediate rank (foundation starter) has multiple copies available, and whose one-below rank (column filler) is also accessible.
Spend at least thirty seconds scanning the initial layout before committing to a base rank. The best base rank is the one that simultaneously starts foundations quickly and keeps empty columns functional throughout the game. These two criteria together narrow the choice to one or two ranks in most deals.
Strategic priorities in order
- Survey the full nine-column layout before setting the base rank. Count available copies of each candidate base rank on column tops. Count available copies of the one-below rank that would fill empties. Make the base rank decision based on this survey, not on instinct.
- Send the base rank cards to foundations as quickly as possible.Once the base rank is set, all four foundations need a card of that rank. Each suit’s base card may be in the tableau or still in the reserve or stock. Route all four base cards to their respective foundations before moving to the next sequence step.
- Use empty columns only for the designated fill rank. Empty columns accept only the one-below-base rank. This is a hard constraint, not a soft preference. If the fill rank is not available, an empty column cannot be used until a fill-rank card appears. Plan around this: keep track of where fill-rank cards are located in the tableau, reserve, and stock.
- Route reserve and stock cards to foundations or useful tableau tops immediately. The reserve top and waste top are both live at all times. Play any reserve or waste card that goes directly to a foundation before making tableau moves. These are the cheapest moves available.
- Plan the wrapping transition as with all Canfield-family games. When foundations reach King, the next rank needed for each suit is Ace. Watch this transition approaching and begin routing Aces before Kings are placed, not after.
Decision walkthroughs
Evaluating two candidate base ranks
Initial layout survey: three 8s are on column tops, making 8 an attractive base rank. However, 7s (the resulting fill rank for empty columns) are all buried in deep columns. Alternatively, base rank 5 has two 5s visible on tops, but 4s (the fill rank) appear on three column tops immediately.
Choose base rank 5. Two foundation starts instead of three is a modest disadvantage, but having three 4s immediately available as column fillers means empty columns become useful tools from the first few moves. Empty columns that cannot be filled are liabilities; empty columns with accessible fill ranks are assets. The fill rank accessibility criterion outweighs the foundation start count in most cases.
Empty column appears but the fill rank is buried
Base rank is 9, so fill rank is 8. A column has cleared, creating an empty space. However, all four 8s are buried beneath other cards in the tableau; none are in the reserve or waste. The empty column cannot currently be used.
Treat the empty column as a goal rather than a current tool. Identify which 8 is shallowest and begin excavating it. The empty column stays empty until an 8 is freed. Do not force an incorrect card into the empty column — the restriction is absolute. If the 8 excavation requires moving cards onto other columns, plan those moves before starting.
Reserve vs. stock: which source to draw from first
The reserve top card is a 6♦ that does not go to a foundation and has no current tableau destination. The stock has not been drawn yet. You are considering whether to play a tableau move or draw from the stock.
Make all available tableau moves first, then draw from the stock. The reserve top is always visible; the stock card is not. Drawing from the stock without exhausting tableau options is premature. Once tableau moves are exhausted, draw from the stock to see if the new waste card creates new options; the reserve top remains available afterward.
Common mistakes
- Setting the base rank immediately without evaluating the fill rank.The most common Nine Across error is selecting a base rank based only on how many base- rank cards are visible, without checking whether the resulting fill rank will be available for empty columns. A game where empty columns sit permanently empty due to buried fill cards is nearly unwinnable.
- Forgetting that empty columns have only one legal fill rank. Players occasionally try to park a useful card in an empty column only to discover mid-move that the card is not the fill rank. The restriction is absolute; planning around it is mandatory.
- Ignoring the wrapping sequence post-King. After foundations reach King, Aces become the next required rank for each suit. If the Aces have not been tracked throughout the game, finding them buried in nine-card column stacks at this late stage is often fatal.
- Drawing from the stock before using the reserve top.The reserve top is a free card available at all times. Drawing from the stock without first checking whether the reserve top can advance any foundation or enable any tableau move wastes the reserve’s value.
Recognizing a losing position early
Nine Across can deadlock despite the large open tableau because the fill-rank restriction on empty columns creates a bottleneck that compounds other problems. These signals indicate a position in serious trouble:
- All four fill-rank cards are buried in deep columns, and no empty columns exist to stage intermediate moves. The board has no maneuver space and further moves only extend sequences without advancing foundations.
- The wrapping sequence is approaching a transition (King to Ace or any cross-rank wrap) and the cards needed for the transition are in the deepest columns while the stock and reserve are exhausted or contain only non-urgent ranks.
- Multiple suits are stuck waiting for the same small set of cards that are all in the bottom half of long column stacks with no viable excavation path.
When these conditions appear, undo to the base-rank selection decision. In most unwinnable Nine Across positions, the wrong base rank was chosen at the start — one that left fill-rank cards inaccessible throughout. A different base rank on the same deal often produces a fully solvable board.