Playing In Live Tournaments

Originally posted by CamelClutch
I'm starting to get the itch (despite my novice status) to play in a real life tournament.

This thread is for people who have played in real life tournaments.
Fill in the blank: "The first time that I played in a tournament, the thing that surprised me the most was............."

How easily my opponents managed to slaughter me! yes in every game

It's not quite finishing out the phrase from the original post, but my advice is to develop the following two routines:

After you move:
Step 1 - Hit the clock.
Step 2 - Write down your move on your scoresheet.

After your opponent moves:
Step 1 - Write down his move on your scoresheet.
Step 2 - Consider the implications of his move.

It would help to practice these routines in a few casual games prior to entering the tournament. Note that if you get into time trouble in a game, then writing down the moves is no longer a priority.

Originally posted by CamelClutch
I'm starting to get the itch (despite my novice status) to play in a real life tournament.

This thread is for people who have played in real life tournaments.
Fill in the blank: "The first time that I played in a tournament, the thing that surprised me the most was............."

Real life tournaments? Well... they are no doubt more interesting than real Death tournaments he he he.
🙄

Originally posted by greenpawn34
.....how nervous I suddenly was.
Remeber how you felt before an exam, well multiply that by 10.

I later learned it was the adrenaline.

When I ever played OTB and never got a an adrenaline hit,
I knew I was going to play a bad game.

spot on!


No adrenaline = bad game (I've still managed swindle a few wins, but I hate looking back at those games).

Back in high school the adrenaline was soo huge I couldn't even sit still, my knee bounced at 200mph the entire game.

The thing about OTB tournaments that really struck me and I played a ton of them years ago - OTB tournaments are mentally and physically exhausting, more so than you could imagine.

I played in a World Open in Philly years ago and made a nice run in the under 2000 section only to blow it the last day. I have never been so tired in my life as I was at the end of that tourney, and that includes two a days in the hot Georgia sun back when I was playing football.

BV

Was that supposed to be amusing?