The Tournament game consists of a series of 40 games, which challenge the player with different layouts of increasing difficulty level. In Tournament mode, each round of the Tournament is timed.

Upon completing all 40 games, the final reward sequence will play and your name will be entered into the Wall of Fame. The total time for all 40 rounds is added up. The shortest time is the best.

In a Tournament, you will not be allowed to use any of the Help menu "cheats" normally available during other games. You may not shuffle or undo any moves, "x-ray" the tiles, nor ask the computer to show you matches. You may, however, select a new tile set at any time during a game without altering your current arrangement of tiles.

If you get stuck, the computer automatically shuffles the remaining tiles and the timer continues to run.

- From the Title Screen, click on Shanghai.
- When the Shanghai layout appears on the screen, go to the Games menu in the Menu bar, and select Tournament.
- Play fast - the clock is ticking! You may want to turn off tile animations. To do this, click on Tile Animation in the Preferences menu.
- To pause the game, press Ctrl-P or select Pause from the File menu.
- To save the game at any time, go to the File menu and select Save a Game...
- To pick up where you left off last time, go to the File menu and select Load a Game...
- To see the Wall of Fame and check out previous scores, go to the File menu in the Menu bar and click on Wall of Fame.