Originally posted by @mchill
Just looking for opinions. In terms of getting the best results from one's tournament efforts, part of me says "keep your game load under 10 and spend more time on each move" however playing 10-30 games at once can certainly expose one to many different variations and problems, and perhaps making them a stronger player in the long run. So, better to err on too many games, or too few? What say you all?
The biggest factor I have found is time pressure and wanting to "clear your board" when you log on to play.
If you only play long(er) timeout games both in tournaments and any other format you will not find yourself under time pressure unless you have a ridiculous number of games on the go and can't keep up.
I can only tell you what works for me:-
I play most days but not every day and sometimes 2 or 3 separate sessions. When I log on I will play the games where opponents are online(green light) first and sometimes exclusively if they respond.I.e I might make a dozen moves against one opponent and not move in any other game
My playing sessions usually last about 30 minutes and then I sometimes go on the forums for a while.
I only play 7:7 time periods or longer but never less than 7 days timeout(time bank may be longer).
I've found between 20 and 30 concurrent games is most comfortable for me and I very rarely have no games where it is my move when I log on.
This is partly because I rarely have "no outstanding games" when I log off i.e I don't "clear my board "
I have my filter set on least time remaining or oldest moves so I can see at a glance what games I most urgently need to move in.
I have never lost a game in over 50,000 played by timeout ;