Buy the digital clock, you will be glad you did as a lot of tournaments now use a time delay
My first Rated OTB tournament Experience
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Dec 3, 2012
0
#3
Yeah, it's a big blunder for me. I was so concerned on solidifying my position that I missed an obvious win for me.
Dec 4, 2012
0
#4
@markle, hmmmm, I guess I'll be buying the digital clock. But if I can find an analog one for a cheap price, it might change my mind
Hm... this is more of an intutive assessment, but you seem to be playing a very passive, stimulus-response kind of chess. When you meet 1. e4 with 1... e5, you're saying you want a somewhat active game, a little activity and centre claim. Admittedly the Petroff is not the most aggressive setup, but in your 1st round only two pieces made it past the 5th rank, and in your 5th round, all your pieces stayed in your half of the board. Play with a little more gusto, perhaps? For openings that are "wait-and-see", you have to know when to stop waiting and step on the accelerator.
Moves like 8...d4 in the first game and 13. Rxe6 in the second you missed, probably because of a defensive mindset. Probably the mode of thinking was "opponent makes a threat, I defend against it". This leads to passive play, like in the last round game where you got scared of the a-file pressure and doubled rooks behind a6, setting up a passive, joyless position. Probably a ...Bg4 or ...Ng4 sometime earlier to go for a kingside attack, ceding the a-file temporarily, would have been better; even before that, the retreat 11...Bc7 may have been better to prepare a ...b6 lever while aiming at the kingside for counterplay. (With no good central pawn break, you have to either undermine his pawns with ...b6 or go for aggressive kingside action to mitigate his queenside pressure.) (If it's the pin 12. Bg5 worrying you, 12...h6 [remove the potential Bxh7+] followed by ...Nbd7, ...Qc8/b8 or something can relieve it.)
tl;dr: Play more proactively, less action-reaction. Especially for ...e5 openings. If you're under pressure, create threats elsewhere to distract your opponent.
Still, not bad play for your first rated OTB! Don't think so much about rating or who your opponents are, just enjoy and play good chess!
Dec 4, 2012
0
#6
@Remelion thanks for the analysis! Yes, I could have played more actively in my last round game but I chose not to. So you are implying that replying 1..e5 to 1.e4 makes the game more active? I mean, to the sense that there will be more threats to be made and to be answered. Hmm, so what should I play then? I view it as this: If I want a solid game, I need to at least control some squares in the center so my position won't be cramped. Then I develop my pieces modestly and castle. That approach works well with double QP openings, but I guess it won't at 1.e4 e5. I looked at the French and it looks okay since I get to play d5 anyway. I'll play it for a while and see if I'll like the results
1. e4 e5 usually takes the game into more open, less obviously positional lines than the double QP openings. The centre has a tendency to remain less blocked, and more tactics (especially on castled kings) will result. If you want a solid game after 1. e4 e5, the Petroff is a good choice, but tends to get a little drawish, with black usually defending. The moves are intuitive, you get centre space and modest development, and it avoids the popular (overanalysed and tactical) Ruy Lopez and Scotch.
White's 1. e4 signals a more tactically active game than 1. d4 already. If you're looking to change it up from 1...e5, the French and Caro-Kann both angle for a quick ...d5 and contest central space. You'll be a little more cramped, but have a solid position and a very straightforward development plan and ideas to follow (stop a white d5, pick off white's centre, get your light-squared bishop somewhere useful, etc.) Hope your experiment in the French turns out well!
In terms of opening ideas, your view is right too. A solid game is where you're not too cramped, and not looking for too much violence early in the game. Controlling centre squares is key, but it's not everything; for openings like Alekhine's (e4 Nf6) and the Grunfeld, black allows white to march in, then picks off the centre with control from afar and delayed pawn breaks, while tolerating some cramp early on. What you should play depends on your preferred style of play in the middlegame; ultimately it's your call. Also, opening lines aren't very important at all; it's more of just surviving to a fairly equal middlegame that matters, where chess is played. Don't sweat opening names or choices too much.
(Disclaimer: OTB I play Bird's (1.f4) as white, and the Modern/Hippo (1...g6 and basically turtling until my opponent snaps) as black. ...This should give a sense of how bad my advice is. Your results may vary.)
Dec 4, 2012
0
#8
So I played some 10 min games, and here is one where I played the French. I know it isn't worth analyzing, but at least I got a rough idea on how to approach the exchange variation
The e-file is of great importance, and the fact that I owned it gave me a decisive advantage. I'd play some more tomorrow and I hope someone would play 3.e5 :)
[Disclaimer]
This is a semi-long wall of text, so beware that the stuff you're going to read might be boring. But of course, you can just skip to the games and analyze them. I'd value you're criticisms, so feel free to share your thoughts and ideas!
Hi chess.com!
I just want to share my experience on my first rated OTB tourney.
I heard of it only 5 days before the tournament, which means I have a decent time to prepare. As time passess by, I realized the sad truth that tactics is the worst part of my game (though I'm working everyday on it). So I made a practical but effective (based on my tournament results) decision about my opening repertoire. I picked up the most solid defences that I already played as Black that uses the "wait-and-see" approach. I ended up with the Petroff and the QGD. For white, I knew that my potential opponents would be booked up, so I chose my old and dusty London System, but then I realized, the QGD setup that I use as black (where I eventually play c6) is Identical to the Colle! So I did a crash course on the Colle System, and I fell in love with it quickly.
The upside is that I could just close FCO for the rest of the week and focus on middlegame and endgame plans. And the obvious downside is, of course, I'm contenting with a very slight advantage as white, because I expect (and plan) to trade a bunch of pieces early in the game.
And so, the day has come, and I came early. The call time was 9:00 am and by 7:30am I was there already. The venue is located at the middle of a mall. I approached the man in the registration table and signed up a form. I was designated at the Under17 division. A few hours later, a lot of people came in and soon the venue was almost full.
After the opening ceremonies, the official pairings were announced. I was paired with a guy that wore a varsity jacket. I'm not intimidated, to be honest. I know that varsity players are usually good, so I know that there is something new that I'd learn from him. Here is the game:
And the hard thing to accept is that 8...d4!! is an obvious win for me. And I only saw it in my home analysis :(
That loss affected me. I immideately stood up and walk away after the game. I grabbed some food and drinks and reason my way out of the game. The only thing that I can think of is lack of preparation. How could I miss the 4.Nc4 variation in my opening prep? And that dreaded 8...d4 move. Oh well, I guess chess ain't for me after all. (Yeah, I came as far to that point) But on the bright side, I had never won a round 1 game on any of my OTB tournaments, so maybe it's just a trend lol. And I'll be playing as white next round! At least I have something to look forward to.
The play resumed after lunch, my opponent is decent since I watched his round 1 game. He had a winning endgame position but time trouble came in and he eventually lose.
The opening ended fast with the middlegame consisting of heavy pieces + a pair of minor pieces. Here is the game:
It's far from flawless, but a win is a win! 1-1 for me. Afterwards, me and my opponent became friends. He have a lot of questions about chess, and I answered to the best that I can.
Round 3 came quickly, and I plan to make a fast draw. I just want to preserve myself for the next round where I play white. I came on the board where my opponent is waiting. We shook hands and started. I won't post the game since I can explain it with words. He opened up 1.e4 and I took some time to think of my reply.
How about a sicilian? No, he might crush me with some flashy tactics in the middlegame. Maybe a caro-kann? Hmmmm, I played that a few months ago, but I don't like the cramped feel of the advance variation. The french maybe? No, see above. The pirc! No, I don't play the pirc.
I have no choice but to play..
1...e5
Then the flashbacks of my first round game haunted me. What if we get in the same position? What should I do? Or maybe I should play 2..Nc6 and head to a RLopez? All of these thoughts were smashed by an opening surprise I WOULD NEVER EXPECT in an OTB tournament.
2.Qh5??
Best would be 2.Ke2 lol. But come on, should I really post the game? Let's just say that my pieces are on their optimal squares and I'm fully developed while White have his Queen and bishop out and both are almost trapped by my Qside pawns.
Round 4! I'm not dazzled by an opening novelty or a 12-move combination in this game. It's that I'm paired with a girl! Oh well, she's not my type whatsoever, but the fact that it's my first time to play with a girl (in chess, of course
) makes the game interesting. The game developed quickly with nothing new, typical trades on the e4 square (I'm playing the colle, remember?). Then we reached a R+Bpair vs R+N+B middlegame. I offered a draw. Why? I don't know, I just want to see what could a draw offer do in a match. I looked into her eyes the whole time she was thinking, just trying to intimidate her LOL. She thought for a couple of minutes and made her move. Oh well, she wants to play it out. A few more moves I managed to trade off the rooks and one of his bishops for my knight. It was DSB vs DSB endgame. I offered a draw. Same thing, she thought for a bunch of minutes (A great way to burn time 
) and made her move. The game developed until we reached this position:
Game drawn by agreement.
Last round
Well, it's time to wrap up and hope for a quick draw. There's nothing left to play for. With 2.5 and a round to play, the best I can have is 3.5, while the tournament leader is already @ 4.
So the game started, and my opponent is of similar face. I know him, but I can't remember who. Then I remembered him. He is a varsity player of my university! Oh well, I guess he want's a draw too. I'd offer one real quick. But as the game played out, he wanted a win.
It ain't that bad really. 2.5/5 is not the worst score you can get in a tournament. But the bad thing which I'm really disturbed when I discovered is that if I won my last round game, I could have got the 5th prize! Man, it's on the organizer's side that is wrong. How inconvenient is it that they show everyone's ranking? And if I only knew that 5 guys will be getting their respective prizes, I'd definitely play more actively on my last round game.
But hey, I'm not ranting and stuff. The overall experience was a blast. I could say that I got "my feet wet" in the realm of OTB tournaments :D
--
If you are kind enough to give more than an analysis of the games posted above, I have a few questions in mind that I need some help on.
1.)There is an issue that happened concerning the promotion of a pawn in the U12 division. It was like, he placed the queen first and removed the pawn. It's something like that. How do you legally promote a pawn according to the legal rules?
2.)I feel like there is something wrong in the way I'm defending 1.e4. Unlike the QGD that you can trade off a bunch of pieces early in the game, in the Petroff, it isn't a guaranteed thing. Like my last round game, for example, it wouldn't be that bad if I managed to remove a couple of pieces. Is there a better approach to the Petroff? I'm not that interested switching my 1...e5 for another defence, but a few suggestions won't hurt
3.)I know a lot of you owns a chess clock. I'm just wondering if you prefer a digital or an analog one? I'm planning to buy one this Christmas.
To finish it off, here is a relatively easy puzzle from the decisive board of the Adult Division: