Something else that's troubling me now is my impending gems production boost. I may be able to live with the T1 and T2 production boost increasing, because it allows me to produce more of the goods that I need to use, but... presumably the moment I unlock gems production boost towards the end of chapter 3 then I am immediately going to be whacked with an extra catering cost and if I am intending to never use T3, then that is going to be difficult to live with.
I have seen already that moving from one tournament week to the next, the only changes that have happened are a) I've completed 4 more researches and b) my marble production boost jumped quite significantly. My catering cost in round 1 of the tournament has gone up by over 30%. I already have 164 gems relics. There is no (that I know of) practical way to burn them without going all the way to the end of chapter 4 and producing a lot of T3.
Now I'm thinking of putting on the progress breaks right now... but, as I say, that means I am going to need to place quite a few expansions in order to allow me to produce enough T1 and T2 to progress in tournaments. Maybe that's the answer though. I will also have 5 chapter 3 magic residences to delete. That's my own fault, but I don't like the idea nonetheless.
What I am learning from this process is that to keep a small micro-city more tournament/spire efficient than one that grows as intended (within the correct parameters, of course) is no gimme. Having a chapter 3 city that can go to the top of the spire and score 1,600 tournament points, (with your eyes closed and hands tied behind your back), is very easy. When trying to decide how to push for much more than that, it keeps on looking like it would be better to progress.
For each extra layer you add, then it seems there is also another extra layer that is needed.