My first OTB tournament experience

Hi everyone,

I want to share my experience of participating in my first OTB classical tournament (Spring 2023 Intercollegiate Chess Tournament). This blog is mainly to remind me of future tournaments and hopefully, anyone reading can learn from my experience.

• Prepare mentally to lose each game.
  I just started learning about chess opening, tactics, endgames, and other theories 4 months ago. My rating on Chess.com is 1200 (rapid). So, my expectation in this tournament was very low: Get at least 0.5 points. However, when I read online, a lot of people get 0 points in their OTB tournaments. I found a good comment on Reddit which says that since playing chess in an OTB tournament is not free as doing it online, the players are certainly tougher. So, don't get too sad if you lose all games and your OTB rating is lower than your online rating. 
• Prepare your openings. 
  I played a Gruenfled defense (I know GothamChess said don't learn Gruenfeld until you're 1800, but well, if you never try, you'll never know), aand as expected, I played it horribly, against an 1800-rated player. In the end, I got checkmated in 28 moves.   
• Prepare meals/snacks between games.
  Playing a classical game is tough. Needing to concentrate for a long time will require a lot of energy, and when you're hungry, it increases the risk of making a blunder.  
• Do NOT attempt fancy tricks.
  I lost 2 games while I was ahead because I miscalculated. I tried to do fancy checkmates and even sacrificed my ROOOOK in one game. I didn't calculate all of my opponents' possible moves (Remember, do not only calculate passive defense!!). Oh, and always be careful of a pawn that reaches the sixth rank!
• Learn your mistakes.
  After each game, I thought we had to submit our notation sheet to the registration desk (like in Queen's Gambit), but we can actually take it home. So, don't throw it away, learn what mistakes you made, and WHY you made those mistakes (try to put narration in each move).
• Have a chat with other players (not during the game)
  I am the type of person who likes to start a conversation. So, that's what I did before the clock started (while waiting for the signal from the tournament director). Fortunately, my opponents also don't mind having a chat. In the break between games, while it's important to review your opening preparation, spend some time talking with other players who have finished their game. Maybe you'll meet them again in your next tournament. 

Well, in the end, I got a final score of 1 (1 Win, 3 losses) and now my USCF provisional rating is 1271. I am so happy that I won as black playing the Caro-Kann!! I owe this a lot to Danya's Caro-Kann speedrun!!

I'll end this blog with a quote "It's only worth it if you enjoy it". Chess is hard, but are you having fun playing it?

If you've read it until this point, thank you so much. I hope you'll have fun in your OTB tournament!