OTB Tourney in 10 days...

Any advice on final preparations between now and then? I haven't played an OTB tourney in a year, and think I've improved a lot since then. I have my goal set as winning class E.

I think my biggest problem last year was playing slowly, and keeping my focus throughout. This is a five round Swiss, and will take all day. By the end, my brain hurts, so starting off strong would be nice.

My final repertoire for this tourney is...

White

The English

Black

1. e4The French

1. d4The Nimzo-Indian/Queen's Indian

1. c4 Symmetrical English

What are some things I can do to keep going throughout the day? Last year, I went to my first tourney and scoffed at bringing food. I quickly rectified that for my next one.

I'm undecided about the Ipod. I could see it being distracting, or a boon to tune things out. I may experiment with that this week and see how it goes.

Any other tips? I really want to do well this time.

Two things, first thing, what happens if everyone plays Nf3, g3, f4, or b3 in their first turn as white?

second thing, I don't play the french, the sicilian is much stronger.

In the event of Nf3, I will respond Nf6, and look to play my Nimzo-QID.

For F4, I would probably play 1. c5, and do a sort of reversed english against it. I don't care for the From gambit much, and anybody who is playing the Bird in an OTB tourney knows the symmetrical lines and the 1. d5 lines better than I do.

As for the fianchetto openings, I would probably go with Nf6 and look to play my Indian game, or play symmetrically, and see where they are going.

As for your second point, the Sicilian may be slightly stronger at the GM level... but I am not at the GM level, and even if I were, the French is completely viable, easier to play, and at my level, probably less booked up by the white players.

Go for walks between rounds. Don't have heavy meals. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER.

and

FIGHT

What works for me is after the game, I go over my game, find mistakes (which are numerous =) and then take me mind off chess until 30 min prior to next game,

Im not very good, but it seems to help me play my best.

Walking....good.  Not heavy meals...good.   Don't study between rounds, just rest (ditto for the nite before), play the French (Sicilian is not my cup of tea either)...

Oh, and post your games!

Good luck!

Best,

ZV

You don't need to worry about your opening repertoire; you seem to have it down better than me (and I'm 1800, lol). I agree with everybody who posted above - do NOT study between rounds (Don't even go over your game, you can do that AFTER the tournament), drink water during the round (cold water usually helps me focus more), and bring light snacks (like a banana or an apple or whatever) to eat during the round.

You might want to bring a hat too, some opponents I have played try to "psych" you out with lots of psychological tricks. The hat would help you block them out.

ALSO, you should try to make a lot of chess friends (especially, as superficial as this sounds, lots of higher rated chess friends). Good luck! :)

Before the first round, I like to do 10-15 minutes of easy tactics.  Either problems I've done before and kind of remember, or simple ones like mate in __ (whatever you find fairly easy).  This is also a sort of superficial confidence booster

Once I found to my horror I wasn't able to solve problem after problem, so I kept at it, I had to get at least one right! and after 20-30 minutes my "chess brain" finally woke up and I solved a few.  Much better to do it before the round then try to wake it up OTB in the first 10-15 moves heh.

Psychologically, what works for me may not work for you -- but I like to go in being determined to have no excuses for my mistakes.  I have a goal that all my blunders will be real errors that I can learn from after the tournament.  None of them will have excuses like "I moved too fast" "I played this move hoping my opponent would fall for____" or "I just didn't consider that check or capture" -- ideally 100% of my mistakes can be converted into new knowledge after the tournament.

Consequently, always assuming your opponent will find the best move, always looking at the checks and captures your opponent has, and "sitting on your hands" can help greatly reduce the number of blunders for class players.

Looks like your tourney is in 3 days. In addition to whatever advice you are following, it's close to the time to stop any cramming.

A little bit of light tactics now and again then play smart and hard.

This is one thing I am definitely going to try. In past tournaments, I have played WAY to fast, particularly when I get into endgames, even in no time trouble.