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A number in minesweeper tells you how many mines touch it. Once you have flagged that many mines around it, every other tile around it must be safe. Chording is telling the game exactly that: click the number, and all its unflagged neighbours open at once.
How to chord
- In MineOnline: left click the number. Space or F with the cursor over a number does the same, which is handy because those keys also place flags: one hand flags and chords, the other only moves the mouse. On a phone, tap the number.
- In classic Windows minesweeper: press the left and right mouse buttons together on the number, or use the middle button.
Nothing happens if the number of flags around the tile is not exactly the number on it. That is a safety net against a slip, not against a wrong flag (more on that below).
Why it is faster
Without chording you click every safe tile yourself. With it, one flag and one chord can open two, three or five tiles, and a chord that reaches an empty tile sets off a whole cascade. On an Expert board that adds up to dozens of clicks you never make. It is also easier on your aim: a number you have just read is a bigger, calmer target than three small tiles you still have to find.
When a chord saves a click, and when it does not
- One safe tile left around the number: a chord is one click and a plain click is one click. Flagging first makes it two. Just click the tile.
- Two or more safe tiles left: a chord wins if the mines are already flagged. If you still have to place the flag, it is flag plus chord against two clicks: even. From three tiles on, chording wins.
- A mine shared by several numbers: this is where it pays most. One flag satisfies two or three numbers at once, and you chord each of them.
That is why fast players do not flag everything. They flag the mines that unlock a chord and leave the rest alone. The two styles have names: flagging (flag and chord) and no-flag (only ever click safe tiles). Most quick solvers mix them, tile by tile.
Chain your chords
A chord opens new numbers. Often one of them is satisfied by flags you already placed, so the next chord is waiting right under your cursor. Working along one edge of the open area, flag, chord, chord, flag, chord, keeps the mouse travelling in one direction instead of jumping around the board.
The one way chording kills you
A chord trusts your flags. If a flag sits on a safe tile, the number looks satisfied while its real mine is still hidden, and the chord opens it. So before you chord, the flag has to be a deduction, not a hunch. The patterns (1-1, 1-2, 1-2-1) are the deductions you will use most.
Does it show in your stats?
Yes. After a run in the Drill Yard you see your efficiency: the board's 3BV divided by the clicks you made, flags included. Solving a board one tile at a time lands well under 100%. Good chording pushes it up, because one click opens tiles that would each have cost a click. Watch a replay from the leaderboards to see how the fastest players chain theirs.