First Tournament
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I'm going to my first chess tournament ever soon. What should I know (other than develop your pieces and don't hang anything, obviously)?
Apr 20, 2018
0
#4
Also bring a water bottle and maybe a chair. I’m not trying to be a troll - these things are actually important. At least to me. Do what you wish with my advice.
You are a way better player than me, so I guess you won't need my advice. I have only been to one weekend tournament and one tournament that lasted months, playing every 14.th day.
The weekend tournament was my first Live games. I was very nervous and will NEVER forget my last game. In my last game I was a whole rook over my oponent after 15 moves or so. I thought this was too easy and I wanted to finish him off early and really crush him, so I started to blitz the moves and going straight for the kill. 40 moves later I lost.
After that I was adviced to think for 2 minutes no matter what and don't underestimate, even if they play terrible.
Don't take any expectations with you going in, and don't pay any attention to your opponents' ratings. These are distractions and will keep you from playing your best. If you expect a certain result, you'll either get nervous when things turn out worse than expected, or settle for less than you could get when they turn out better than expected.
There's only as much psychology as you bring with you. Go out there with your focus on playing well and having fun, and the results will take care of themselves.
Patience. Analyze and calculate well. This advice obviously do not apply to blitz games. Don't underestimate your opponent. Play a line you know really well. Good luck!
