Tomorrow, I am going to my first OTB tourney. Other than eating well and going to sleep at a reasonable time, does anyone have any suggestion or stories about their first tournaments? Or just any encouragement will be appreciated. Thanks

Play well dude.

Hope I do.

I've never played live chess tourneys, but I've played tons of live poker tourneys.  Best advice I can give is take your time, and think twice before you act.  (unless it's blitz.  In that case, like I said before, play well.)

Yes, most likely you will have plenty of time, don't  let the clock factor in on how you play.  Also, remember to hit your clock, and take good notation!

the first tournament isn't much more pressurising then other tournaments, or should i say... less pressurising :). just try to focus on the game, and please remember to calculate accurately even if it's only move 6, i have developed a routine on how to calculate accurately... check for forks, in between sacrifices, checks, forced mates, pawns about to promote,agressive pawn pushes... lots of stuff neatly aranged so i won't make a blunder and lose early... for some reason i keep forgetting about that list and just blunder away 60% of my games :(

Good Luck!

Make sure you post results afterwards.  GOOD results.

BTW, the timing is 25 minutes with 5 second increments, and I have played (I think twice) against someone my level with that timing.

First: get a good nights sleep.  You will need that.

Second: Don't second guess yourself.  Play your moves like you mean them.  If you make a mistake, don't think that the game is over.  Suck it up and play your best, like a man does.  And everybody makes mistakes in tournaments, so don't sweat them.  You'll learn to love them.

Third: Never, never look at ratings before the game.  Treat every opponent as if they are God until they show you otherwise.  Almost all players fall into the ratings trap at one time or another.  But an 800 player may be capable of playing at a 2800 level; you just don't want to be the guy sitting across from him when he does.

But most important is this: chess is fun.  There may be times tomorrow when you will need to remember this.

Now, go out there start collecting some scalps, chessplayer!

Drink lots of water, and bring your lucky pencil. And bring a set & clock if you have them.

Be sure you know how to set your clock. Find out where the bathrooms are. Bring your USCF id card. Figure out how you're going to fit a small lunch in between rounds.

G/30 is pretty fast, but not blitz-fast. Give yourself time to think.

Best of luck, Mm40!

ADK

My first tournament ever I spent the night sleeping in a kid's fort on a playground (since the tourney was being held at an elementary school).  Not very comfortable...but it was a lot of fun nonetheless.

Sleep well. Don't forget to turn off your phone. Conserve your energy -- don't play blitz games for fun between rounds, and resign when you're definitely lost. Drink coffee but don't overdo it.

Oh, and don't forget the post mortem! It can be very helpful to go through a game after it ends, especially if you lost to a better player. Their tips can improve your play a lot. Of course, they may decline, especially if you dragged the game out for far too long, in their opinion. Also, if this is a rapid tournament, there's often not enough time or opportunity between the rounds to go through a whole game (and many people won't write down their moves). But with slow games, do.

And record your games! Even if it's rapid, these are your first ever tournament games! We demand that you show us a win afterwards :-)

Have fun, and make some friends :-)

Have an opening repertoire! that's def. a plus. Allready mentioned before but don't forget to hit the clock.

tournaments are fun! My first tournament was when i was like 5 or 6 i got like 5th place and i had a lot of fun. just remeber to have fun and never underestimate your opponent