How to Play the Canfield Midgame
Later in the deal, the stock is still turning one card, the reserve is still showing one card, and an empty column still holds only one card. Play a waste card that can move before you cover it. Build a card onto a foundation when a column can spare it.
Four things not to lose in the midgame
Draw when the waste card is stuck
The stock still turns one card. Draw when that waste card cannot move and the reserve top cannot move either. Another draw is not progress if it only covers a card you could have played.
An empty column holds one card
Use a free column for a card that has a later move. Any rank can sit there. A card with nowhere to go next will sit there until you undo.
Keep one landing spot
A legal move can still be the wrong one if it takes the only card a column can build on. Look at the next card before you move the current one.
Leave yourself an undo
Before a draw or a foundation build, check the waste card, the reserve top, and the empty column. Those three are the positions you most often need to restore.
Ask these four when the hand tightens
When should I turn the waste over?
Turn it over after the stock is empty and you have played every waste card that can move. Turning the waste over starts the same cards in a new order. It does not reset the columns or the reserve.
When is a foundation build safe?
Build it when the columns no longer need that card as a landing spot, and the waste is not waiting to play onto it. The top foundation card can come back later if a column can take it.
Can I move several built cards at once?
No. Even in the midgame, one card moves at a time. A long alternating column has to be taken apart one card at a time if you need the card underneath.
What if the foundations are ahead of the columns?
Stop building home until a column has another landing spot. A full foundation pile does not help if the only connector is already on it and the reserve top is stuck.
Each draw changes what you can touch
One new waste card covers the previous one. Before you draw, name the card you are covering and whether it still had a move.
Park a card, do not store a problem
An empty column accepts any single card. Put a card there when its next move is already on the table. Leave the space empty when you only need it as a temporary step.
A foundation build can remove a landing spot
Building up from the base rank wins the deal, one card at a time. Build a card home when a column can spare it. If that card is the only opposite color the next card can use, leave it on the column.
Undo the draw, not the whole deal
If one draw covered the card you needed, undo that draw before you fill the empty column around the mistake. A single undo is cheaper than replaying the deal number from the start.
Midgame FAQ
Why can a deal stall while cards are still on the table?
The waste card you needed is under another card, the reserve top does not fit, or the empty column is holding a card that cannot move. The cards are still there. The moves are not.
How do I tell that a foundation build was early?
A column card now has no legal landing spot, and building that card home did not free the reserve top or the waste card.
Does the stock ever turn three cards?
No. This table turns one stock card at a time. Only the top waste card can be played.
When should I ignore a legal move?
When it fills the only empty column with a card that has no next move, or when it builds home the only connector a column can use.
Can Hint choose the midgame moves for me?
No. The first click marks one legal suggestion. A second click plays that one move. It does not decide whether you should draw, turn the waste over, or keep a connector on a column.
What is the fastest repair?
Undo to the draw that covered a playable card, or to the move that filled the empty column. Then play from the position where the reserve top and the waste card were both still available.
Bring it back to the game
One habit under pressure
Before each draw, name the waste card you are about to cover. If that card can still move, play it first.
Related reads
If the reserve, the one-card draw, or an empty column is still unclear, go back to the rules page, then play one deal and watch only those three spots.