THBFAS
First tournament - enter U1500 or unrated?
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Nov 11, 2011
0
#3
Maybe play a game on this site, or post one of the games against the engines, so we can get a sense of where you are.
why can't you enter the open section?
andrewf2002 wrote:
THBFAS
Thanks. That clears everything up.
Mm40 wrote:
Maybe play a game on this site, or post one of the games against the engines, so we can get a sense of where you are.
I'll save a game or two to a file that I can upload.
Nov 11, 2011
0
#7
Keep in mind that for the first 20-25 games you play on the USCF, your rating is provisional : the K-factor that determines how rapidly you can go up/down is quite loose and allows people to easily climb the rating ladder if you can beat capable opponents.
This is how really good players who never played rated tournament games (before they even got good) start off "way" higher on the rating ladder than those who don't have enough skill to begin with but get into the tourney circuit earlier own.
In other words, winning games against novice-level players in the Unrated section doesn't buy you much but winning games against the 1300-1500 crowd can put you on a higher spot in the rating ladder. If you were to waste all your provisional games vs. lower rated players , you have a longer journey to climb to the same rating level via the standard rating climb.
So my advice to you is ... assess your chances at winning more than 50% of your games in the U1500 crowd ... and if it looks good, play the U1500.
Of course, all of this backfires if you lose all your games in the U1500 section :)
Here are two games...
A12: English Opening: 1...c6 with b3 by White 1.Ng1-f3 d7-d5 2.c2-c4 c7-c6 3.g2-g3 Bc8-g4 4.Bf1-g2 e7-e6 5.b2-b3 Ng8-f6 6.Bc1-b2 Nb8-d7 7.0-0 Bf8-d6 8.Nb1-c3 Bg4xf3 9.e2xf3 0-0 10.Rf1-e1 d5xc4 11.b3xc4 Nd7-e5 12.Qd1-b3 Ne5-d3 13.Re1-e2 e6-e5 14.Nc3-a4 Bd6-c7 15.Bb2-a3 Qd8-d4 16.Ra1-b1 Rf8-d8 17.Na4-b2 Ra8-b8 18.Nb2xd3 Qd4xd3 19.Bg2-f1 Qd3-g6 20.Rb1-c1 Rd8-d3 21.Rc1-c3 Rd3-d7 22.Bf1-h3 Rd7-d8 23.Ba3-b2 Qg6-h6 24.Kg1-g2 Nf6-d7 25.Bh3xd7 Rd8xd7 26.Rc3-e3 f7-f6 27.f3-f4 e5xf4 28.Re3-e7 Rd7xe7 29.c4-c5+ Re7-f7 30.Re2-e7 f4-f3+ 31.Kg2-h1 Qh6-g6 32.Qb3-e6 Qg6-b1+ 33.Qe6-e1 Qb1xb2 0-1
B23: Closed Sicilian: Lines without g3 1.e2-e4 c7-c5 2.Nb1-c3 d7-d6 3.f2-f4 e7-e6 4.Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 5.Bf1-b5+ Bc8-d7 6.d2-d3 Bd7xb5 7.Nc3xb5 Qd8-d7 8.c2-c4² a7-a6 9.Nb5-c3 Nb8-c6 10.Bc1-e3 Nf6-g4 11.Be3-g1 Nc6-b4 12.a2-a3 Nb4-c6 13.Nf3-d2 13...Ng4-f6= 14.Qd1-e2 Bf8-e7 15.0-0-0 0-0³ 16.Nd2-b3 b7-b5 17.d3-d4 b5xc4µ 18.Qe2xc4 d6-d5 19.e4xd5 19...e6xd5 20.Qc4-e2 c5-c4 21.Nb3-c5 Qd7-f5 22.Qe2-f3 Be7xc5 23.d4xc5 Nc6-a5 24.b2-b3?? Na5xb3+ 25.Kc1-b2 Rf8-b8 0-1
Hi. I'm entering my first tournament in late January at the ripe young age of 50. It's the Cardinal Open in OH. I can enter the Unrated category, or the U1500 category as an unrated. What should I do? I have no idea what my strength is. I've beaten Shredder Classic set at 1600 and lost to Hiarcs at 1300 if that means anything. Thanks