Hmm, he wasn't chip leader. I had a bit more than him, but he wasn't in a position where he had to double up to survive.

And yes, it was early on -- I think it was about 15 minutes before the 1st break (pretty sure they break every hour).

I haven't read any strats on MTTs. I figured it was good to get a nice chunk of chips early on because the blinds do catch up if you play super tight/timed. Having about 1500 chips or so when the blinds are at 50/100 and everyone else at your table has 3-5x your chips is not good.

I will try to play a bit slower next time (poker stars rocks, with that hubble freeroll going on pretty much every day).