by 21tirules
In every game I have played (5) which have all been 2 player I have focused on maintaining the 1st player for the majority of the time and especially at the end of a phase. I have won every game all by at least 25 points.Having the 1st player at the start of the phase give you 1st choice of tiles, especially black tiles, which seems in my experience to be a huge advantage.
I, also, focus on getting mines and selling goods so as to always have 2 silverlings available at the start of a turn.
Maybe next game I'll try not to dominate the 1st player and see how it turns out.