How much do you plan in advance?

[Ewith]

I've always wondered how far in advance people take the tetriminos into consideration, when they're playing fast, e.g. in a sprint game. I always have the first 'next piece' in mind as well as the hold-piece. If I'm concentrating I can also take the second tetrimino in line into consideration, but any more than that I start having trouble mantaining focus on the stacking. I was wondering if players more skilled than me take more tetriminos into consideation, and if so, if there's a good way to train it?

[Blink]

In sprint mode I usually plan 2 or 3 pieces in advance, but in multiplayer I try to use about 5 or 6 - planning ahead to setup tspins.  A good way to practice might be to disable/ignore the hold piece, this will force you to plan ahead or mess up your stack with bad placements.

[iphys]

With the hold piece though, I find I can look at the piece previews in a more general way of thinking about where I'm going to want to put everything, rather than worrying about the exact order I'm going to place every piece in, because I know the hold is going to give me some flexibility in the order I can place those pieces.  If you're really worried about speed though, you're probably not going to want to count on using the hold too much though and you're not going to be too worried about having the foresight to set up T-spins either.

[I_AM_SAND]

"I see only one move ahead, but it is always the correct one."
— Jose Capablanca

[heretic]

I consider the hold, current piece, and next 3. In games where more than 3 previews are available, I look at those but only at a distance, ex. making sure there's a T nearby before setting up a t-spin.

[jujube]

nice quote SAND

usually i stack leaving room for any piece other than the current piece, which doesn't take any foresight. but i watch especially for a duplicate of the current piece which is coming soon. two identical pieces can often fill a large area very cleanly so it's good to know ahead of time you can do that. without seeing the second one coming you're less likely to leave room for it, and you'll probably stack a little higher than you need to. even if you're not going to fit them together it's good to know they're both coming, because you can adjust your stacking to make the best of a unique situation, instead of stacking on instinct.

i also try to spot I and T pieces as far away as possible, but i don't watch so closely that it slows me down. the only time i like to slow down is when i know the stack is shaping for a T-spin, and i want to find the absolute best way to set it up, preferably doing it in a way that leads to another T-spin or uncovers a garbage hole. the idea is that slowing down before the T-spin will lead to better efficiency after the T-spin.

[hurtchow]

At the bottom I just do one at a time, at the middle I do whatever keeps me low, at the top I do one at a time.

This isn't something I do on purpose, but I've noticed it a few times.

[yougosplat]

for the most part i noticed that even if you dont look at the next pieces, you can place the pieces. If not you can leave it where it is easily clearable. At least thats what i saw when a lot of people play. I guess its not good when you want b2b.

really, the only situation i have some trouble with is if you have a zigzag pattern going up and down, and when you REALLY needed a s, z, or t piece you get a o.

though i really do respect people who can look ahead. its kinda reminds me of chess players that can plan up to 10 moves in their heads.

[DraKKiE]

I normally plan the entire game ahead of time..  because I plan to win!!

[virulent]

I normally plan the entire game ahead of time..  because I plan to win!!

*gag* ;x

i do what heretic does. if i'm gunna make a tspin i look for a T if i'm goin to set up a tetris i look for a stick :i those are really the only 2 i look for though :[ that's why my speed is like 20-40 below what ppl think :x i stop to think "where should this go"..i usually end up adding more lines but slowing down too much :[ i should look further ahead :3

i only look 1 ahead even w/o using hold cause i originated on tnet n there are no holds & only 1 piece preview.

oops. sry  that's only half of what heretic does ;x prob why he's faster than me :3

[SiRTeTRiS]

I think as a lot of people have already said it depends on the situation and variation your playing.  For example if you have a preview of 5-6 and your in general used to playing a game with just 1 or 3 preview you probably will be more used to that.  In general though for me with Multiplayer I'm looking 3 ahead and I feel like my mind also looks for patterns or just tells me when a shape is up...so I don't intend to look at all of them but obviously if I'm setting up for a b2b and have a l already held.  Then, I'm going to want to definitely know if an l is coming within the next couple of moves in case I'm about to get fed garbage.  Based on that it helps me decide on whether or not to wait or take the current held l for a Tetris and so on, which I'm sure is what a lot of ppl do with t-spins.  I'm starting to try and do them more, but I'm overall just not a fan so meh...definitely practice at times though without the hold for speed.