What to do in your first tournament

Hi everyone! Today we will be discussing what to do in your first tournament! You may think," I know! Checkmate your opponent and win as many games as you can! Well, that is true, but there are tournament rules that we are going to discuss here...

1. Touch-Move Rule

If you or your opponent touches one of their own pieces they must move that piece as long as it is a legal move. If a player touches an opponent’s piece, they must capture that piece, again, if it is legal to capture it. If someone wishes to touch a piece only to adjust it on the board must first announce it, usually by saying “adjust”. If you have held a piece for more than two seconds, you cannot say adjust anymore, you have to move that piece. Here is a example where Hikaru Nakamura touches his king and has to move it, though it would be fatal to move it.

Now lets move on....

Learn to Read a pairing chart:

  I have examples of pairing charts from prior tournaments. I show these to beginning players so they know how to read the chart.  I also pair up experienced players with new players so as they go into the first round, they know how to read the chart and are confident about where they are sitting.

The most important thing for them to know is the section they are playing in, and then they must write down what table and what color they are playing. For example:

Check Board number  Bo or otherwise call table number (Indicated on the chess clock in respective category),

1^st name player (Name) on left column plays WHITE and 2^nd name player (Name) on right column plays BLACK,

Thanks everyone for viewing this post and see you next time!!!