Your First In-Person Tournament - An Arbiter And ChessMom’s Advice To Players

Being part of the Improvers Club means that you all work on your chess and play chess online regularly.

But how many of you are playing chess in person? Hopefully many! But just in case you have never played in an OTB (over-the-board) chess tournament, this article is for you!

Once you've played with enough players, the topic of going to a tournament will come up. I hope you will embark on this incredible journey of OTB chess tournaments!

I might be biased, as I have a deep passion for chess events, but I genuinely think participating in a competition about once a month is the key to improving and enjoying the game!

What should you know when you are preparing for your first tournament?

Many resources dive deep into the technical information about tournaments:

• If you lose, you will not get eliminated, so plan to play all rounds!
• Tournament Type: Swiss or Quads?
• Time control: Game in XX minutes with an X-second increment or delay
• Number of rounds
• Schedule: When does the first round start? Do rounds start at a fixed time, or will there be a rolling schedule? When will the day end?
• How to find and read your pairings: find the board number, check if you are White or Black, and make a note of your opponent.
• Basic rules: Touch-move, illegal moves, notation requirements, when to complain, etc.
• What you must bring: Boards, sets, clocks, and scoresheets?

If you are interested in any of these, feel free to comment below, and I'll post a short summary on any of the above-mentioned points.

But today, I won’t delve into such technical information regarding chess tournaments.

Instead, here is some advice from yours truly, a chess arbiter and chess mom!

Know when the tournament starts and where the venue is, and be there 15 minutes early!

You will run late, so plan to arrive 15 to 30 minutes early. Having time to calm down, get into focus mode, not rush to find the board, and not have to spend the first minutes of your time on this will be extremely valuable during the endgame, believe me!

Find the restroom before your first round 

You will need it in the middle of the game at some point during the tournament, and being able to sprint back and forth might be extremely valuable.

Find out if you need to use a clock. If that's the case, know how to pause it

This will save you some headaches, prevent you from accidentally turning it off or resetting it, and save you a valuable few seconds.

Turn off your cell phone

I mean, really turn it off. Don't just put it on silent, vibrate, or airplane mode.

Bring food

Chances are that you won’t have time to go out and buy food, but you will get hungry! Chess is a serious sport where you burn many calories and release heat through your head.

My daughter’s ears were red every time she played a longer game—I’m not joking! And she always came out hungry from the playing hall.

Always report your result

Please don’t assume your opponent will write it on the result sheet or tell the arbiter. Even if you lose, ensure your game's result is reported.

Keep a tournament diary 

This may sound silly, I know. But besides analyzing your games after a tournament, summarize and make notes on what you learned: best practices, new rules you learned, and non-chess mistakes you made during the tournament.

This will help you verbalize them, and you’ll increase your chance of not making that mistake again. I use this technique to get better as an arbiter, too!

Don't be afraid to ask or call the arbiter

Arbiters are there to serve the players and ensure that the event goes smoothly. Many players fear calling the arbiter with a question or suspicion that something is incorrect or unfair.

Don't be shy. Arbiters do like players. Otherwise, we would not be working almost every weekend at tournaments! And if your arbiter is like me, they especially like new players and like guiding them through their first events.

Are you not sure if that en-passant was correct or illegal? Call the arbiter! Are you wondering if you have to continue notating? Call the arbiter! Are you wondering if you can make your opponent stop fidgeting with that candy wrapper? Call the arbiter! No question is too small.

There's one thing I always say at every tournament: During the game, we can help you, but after the game, it's too late!