Why I play tournaments.
I've been playing FreeCell since around the year 2000. It was a welcome diversion from a stressful job. I was never a great streaker, and I switched to Tournaments because I liked the competition. I also liked the fact that if you lost a game, you had another chance.
I have improved in speed and ability to solve games over the years. (As you would hope after all that practice!)
I have a job where I can play some tournaments during the day, thanks to working from home. The advantage is I have more opportunity to play, the downside is that interruptions can cause losses.
I tend to avoid the longer harder tournaments an hour or more, I find my concentration isn't as good and I'm not as good at solving difficult games.
My preference is playing the speed tournaments, so my opinions come from this perspective.
I have played for years with enhanced mouse settings, so the drag time is shorter. I minimize the screen also for the same reason. I play on a 17-inch laptop and my game screen is minimized to about 10 inches wide. I've found any smaller I have more trouble seeing the cards.
The fractions of seconds saved seem to add up on the speed
tournaments.
I also play by instinct, a second or two to survey the layout and then just start moving cards. My brain seems to work better and recalibrate as to next moves once cards are moved, rather than take time to analyze several moves before moving cards as you would when streaking.
Lightnings, Supers, quickies, some AIO's -
I play fast, by instinct and without forethought.
Wide, Zany, Traditional and Potluck
I play the easier games first and then the harder ones,
which for me are the 10 x 1 games, last. The rational being that if a game is
unsolvable, there is lass chance of wasting time on a game that may affect your
overall placement.
Skeet, Streaker, Twelve
For the deadlies I must slow down and likely play like
everyone else, with forethought and try and plan a few moves ahead by freeing
up lower value cards and building columns.
Masters
I play easier ones first by speed and instinct and then play
the harder games with planning and forethought of moves. My strategy being that
I can use speed tactics initially and then make a conscious decision to slow
down for the more difficult games. My brain often turns to mush however after
60-90 minutes, and I usually get stuck on the harder games.
Narrow and Potluck
This doesn't work at all well for the deadly tournaments. In those I do have to slow down, analyze and then move cards. Once I am surer of the correct path, I then move cards more quickly.
I try and start on time, though that doesn't always happen
of course when life gets in the way. Overall, I play on my laptop and usually
while watching TV, either shows, movies, or Soccer. Over the years my health
and mobility have diminished, and FreeCell is a welcome way to veg and I have
very much enjoyed the site, the games and comradery.