OTB going for the draw

I'm in my first tournament this week and I have been lucky enough to be paired with the clubs strongest player with me playing black.  I estimate that he is a good 500 points higher then me.  As such do you think I should play for the win and learn from the loss.  Or play for a draw and learn for the loss.

Thanks,

Neither of these are likely to influence the game, you can't force a draw against someone 500 points stronger, since he will understand the game so much better than you.

Play your best from start to finish, play it for a win, as you would against any other opponent, and if you lose, then so be it, atleast you enjoyed it, and hopefully learned from it.

It is kind of hard if you before the game think that it may kind of unrealistic that you win.

obviously the pressure is on your opponent he is supposed to win.

and you can only surprise.

but the only thing you should do is to worry about finding the best move by move.

you shouldn't worry about winning or drawing before the game.

but if you can see a way to draw during the game : do it.

thanks alot for advice.. will take to heart.  As this is my first tournment is there any opennings you think I should review ( i have no plans as black)  or should I just keep working on my tactics and let what happpens happen.

i'd play for the win, but obviously settle for the draw.

i'd also look to trade and simplify whenever possible.

I wouldn't simplify, if he is 500 points better than you like he say, he is probably better at the fundamentals than you. You are just making his problem easier. Granted play your style, that will work best, but if it were me I would do the exact opposite and try to leave everything on the board and complicate the situation as much as possible and see If I can't get him to make a mistake. 

This is very good advice, one of my favorite games was when I managed a tie against someone who had a previous 3-0 run against me because I kept up a solid defense until he blundered into trading his rook for a bishop.

Exactly, but you have to take it even further.

 Look at it objectively: at 500 points lower, you have almost no chance.

Nobody will bat an eyelid if you lose, but if you win or draw he looks like an idiot, the pressure should be on him.

If you play a mainline opening, you will probably just reach a position he has played more often than you did, and he would probably understand it a million times better.

Your only hope is to reach a position he does not understand. If you don't understand either, it doesn't matter, he now has the opportunity to make a mistake. More than likely you will make a mistake before he does, but just maybe he blunders first.

In simple positions, he is very unlikely to make bigger mistakes than you.

These are all pronciples from Simon Webb's excellent little book, Chess for Tigers. Get a copy.

You already got good advice, play your usual game/style, and if you want more winning chances (what small amounts there are :) then play more complicated or odd positions

If I were playing someone 500 points below me I'd love to go into an early endgame, it's much easier to win there when your mistakes cost you more and the lower rated player doesn't realize it.  So don't just simplify a lot.

Also don't play passively.  You can be defensive, but try to give each of your pieces an active roll in the game and not just "well I'll leave my knight here in case he tries to attack much later and then I wont have to worry about it"

The more you diverge from your usual play, it may give you less to learn... if going over an odd move late you may think "well, I'd normally never play that anyway"  So it's best to play moves where you have no excuse... put your stamp of approval on every move, only play moves you believe in and are willing to defend if a stronger player asks you after the game "why that move?"  You don't want to answer "I was just screwing around"  That way all your mistakes will be real lessons.

good point.