Questions about tournaments

Hello, I have a few questions about tournaments and "people classification":

1. Until what age can you enter "junior" and "youth" tournaments? It seems to be either 18 or 20 depending on the tournaments... I'm not sure.

2. Are you in the "youth" or "adults" groups in your chess club at 18? (I'll be 18 at the end of the year.)

3. Is it better to join an open tournament if you're a beginner? (note that there are not a lot of opens left now)

4. If you play in tournaments, is it obligatory that informations about you are in the FIDE website or the website of your country's federation?

5. How do you pay for entering a tournament?

6. How do you know about local tournaments aside from your chess club, your chess federation's website and chess magazines?

7. Any advice about how to prepare before a tournament?

8. Generally, is it a bad idea to join a tournament as a beginner?

I also wonder about the general atmosphere of tournaments, how people are, if it is anything like other sports' tournaments. For having watched games at an open tournament, I know you can analyze your games on the place where it is held, that you have to write your moves down, etc. but I only saw it from an outsider's place, not knowing really how it is from the player's place.

I generally liked how children, adults, women and men played together in the open tournament, and it seemed a lot of fun (non-open tournaments might be more... official-feeling?) but there is not a lot of open tournaments at this point where you can still register.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

1,2) I'm not familiar with the rules/criteria regarding junior and youth tournaments, so I can't help with this one.

3) If you're beginner, you probably want to enter the unrated section, or the lowest rated section.  Note: An "open" tournament is open to all.  A "closed" tournament is one in which requires an invite of some kind.

4) Yes.  If you enter a USCF (United States Chess Federation) rated tournament, for example, you first have to become a USCF member.  I suspect this is true for most all other countries and organizations.

5) Cash, check or credit card.  Most tournaments accept all three, especially if paid in advance.  On the day of the event some tournaments will not accept a check.

6) You nailed all three.  Basically I find out about my local tourneys through the USCF website or magazine.

7) In a nutshell, just play and practice as much as you can before the tournament starts. 

8) Bad idea?  Not at all .  Lots of beginners enter tournaments.  Everyone has to start somewhere.  Ideally, again, enter a tournament/section that has other beginners or low-rated players, so you can play a few competitive games.

Greetings,

Is it legal in a tournament to use a timer, say a stop watch or silent minute timer (sand timer) so I can time my move?  The timer would help me slow down and not move too quickly.

What is the rule here?

Regards,

Arthur

Don’t tournaments already have this? They are called chess clocks. Also, using a separate stopwatch or sand timer may not be allowed as it’s difficult to synchronize with your opponent clock and it can cause confusion.

Hi Aaron,

I have never played in a tournament, but am aware of the chess clock.  So, I would operate the chess clock according to the rules, but would like to use a sand timer just to help me manage my time.  Thus, if I did enter a tournament, I would want to know if I could bring one and make use of it?

Regards,

Arthur