Mastering Empty Columns in Spider Solitaire
In Klondike, an empty column is valuable. In Spider, it is almost irreplaceable. The ability to create, protect, and exploit empty columns is the single biggest skill gap between players who clear boards regularly and those who get stuck.
Why Empty Columns Matter So Much
Spider allows moving multi-card sequences as a group only if they are in-suit. Mixed-suit sequences — the norm on most boards — must be moved one card at a time. Moving them one at a time requires a destination for each card. Empty columns are those destinations.
Without an empty column, a mixed-suit sequence of 5 cards is effectively immovable. With one empty column, you can move up to two extra cards temporarily. With two empty columns, up to four. The formula is: maximum movable sequence length = 2^(empty columns). Each additional empty column doubles your maneuverability.
How to Create an Empty Column
Creating an empty column requires clearing all cards from one of the ten tableau piles. This is easiest early in the game before stock deals add more cards. Target the shortest column — whichever pile has the fewest cards is cheapest to clear.
Look for a column where the face-up cards form a valid sequence that can be distributed onto other columns. You don't need to remove the face-down cards — if you clear everything face-up, the face-down cards will flip, and you can deal with them next.
How Not to Waste an Empty Column
The most common mistake: filling an empty column with a King just because it's available. Unless that King is part of a specific sequence you're building, you've just spent your most valuable resource for no gain.
A close second: using the empty column as permanent storage for a card you're not sure what to do with. Empty columns are best used as transit spaces — move a card there temporarily to unlock a move, then move it again immediately to its proper destination. A column that stays parked with a single card for multiple turns is probably a wasted opportunity.
Using Multiple Empty Columns Simultaneously
When you have two or more empty columns, treat them like hands in a card trick — coordinated tools, not independent slots. To move a 4-card mixed-suit sequence from column A to column B, you might need to use column C and column D as temporary holds for individual cards while you reassemble the sequence on column B one card at a time.
Planning these multi-column maneuvers before starting them is essential. Starting a reorganization without a complete mental map often results in a worse position than where you started.
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