When you’re playing in a chess tournament, you forget that you’re just around a large bunch of guys and girls that enjoy playing chess. When I went to my first chess tournament, nobody told me anything and I froze. I was afraid of the clock. I was afraid of the people I was paired with. I was even afraid of the cooler chess pieces people had; especially since nobody told me I had to bring my own chess pieces. That was a full 16 years ago, and it’s been some great chess tournaments that have transpired since that time. The number one thing to remember about chess tournaments is that everyone shares one thing in common, and that is why everyone has come together to that one place: to play some chess.
The first thing you have to remember is that you are at a sports tournament, and you are the athlete. No matter what anyone has told you, this is your athletic moment, and you better be prepared. Get the correct amount of sleep that your body needs, not what it can sustain on. For the three days before the tournament try to get 8 hours of sleep. Make sure that at the end of the sleep you want to get up, and you don’t feel like you are peeling yourself out of bed. Eat three square meals a day. Make sure that you have enough protein, iron, and beta carotene. These are vitamins to keep you awake and alert, and you mind working to the best of its ability.
The second thing you need to know is your clock. The clock is a necessary evil of chess tournaments. You need to know how to use it, set it, and work it. The manuals are on line all over the place, and you can quickly download them onto any palm pilot or Iphone. Make sure you know how the clock is used in the tournaments, and what it is used for. Dan Heineman has written a great “how to” on the clock at http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Events_Books/EnhanceTnmt.html. Make sure that this clock is your best friend, and you can do everything you need to in a time of pressure when you’re feeling nervous. In order for you to do this, you should be able to set up your clock while someone is talking to you and be able to repeat back to them what they said.
You need to have you traps and sets ready in your head. We all have our favorite traps and set ups. You need to have these in your head. You need to have tried these on various people, including the type of people you’ll be going up against in this tournament. The best places to practice are online chess places. Try to frequent yahoo games that has a free online chess game. These are usually frequented by people who can only play average chess, but you’ll be able to try out all of your strategies on a diverse population.
Know how to record your game and keep score. If you can keep score, you will be required to. If you can’t, then it will be done for you. However, the ability to record your game will allow you to go back to the game and see what happened and how you could have improved it. In addition, the score keeping or the “algebraic notation” as it is called can be learned in a night. Given a good teacher, you could probably learn this is an afternoon. This score keeping and recording of your game is very easy and Dan has again helped you out at http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Events_Books/EnhanceTnmt.html.
Learn where your playing strength is. Most average adult chess players rank somewhere between 900 and 1400. This is a score deemed by the SFSC of how well you can do. If you haven’t been playing long, or you see yourself loosing a lot you’ll want to be in the under 900(U-900) or the under 1400 (u-1400) section. however, if you think you can hold your own and believe that you are better than most, try the above 1400 section, but then you’ll have to decide how good you are comparatively. If you haven’t been rated, trying staying lower and you will be asked or told to raise if you should. Got to the SFSC website for more info on the rating system and where you would fall.
