Your 1st Tournament

In this series, GM Ben Finegold gives priceless advice for young players, who are trying out their first real-life tournament after playing online.

The course covers essentials like legal moves and chess notation and gives hints about time management and how to handle draw claims.

The four videos are very useful for absolute "beginners" and yet entertaining for advanced players.

Not what you were looking for? Back to the video guide.

Illegal Chess Moves Have you played lots of chess online but have yet to venture to your first in-person tournament? This series is for you. In the first lesson, GM Ben Finegold teaches you how to look out for illegal moves in your games—something you must know if you're going to play over-the-board chess.

Reaching The Time Control If you're trying out real-life tournament chess after playing just online, there are certain things you need to know. One of the most important concepts is reaching the time control over the board, and GM Ben Finegold is here to explain with hilarious examples like Hikaru Nakamura's "orange juice game" and even one from Magnus Carlsen.

Chess Notation Issues If you play chess on Chess.com, we've taken care of the notation for you. But if it's your first over-the-board tournament, you need to know how to properly record the moves and how to handle any disputes that arise.

How To Handle Draw Claims On Chess.com, a draw is as simple as clicking a button, and we do the rest. But in your first over-the-board chess tournament, you need to know how to make a draw, and GM Ben Finegold is here to help.