Tournaments

Preparing For Your First Over-the-Board Chess Tournament

If you're interested in chess, you may be considering playing an over-the-board (OTB) chess tournament. Here are a few tips for preparing for and playing such an event.

1. Be sure you know all the logistics and rules

Before you begin preparing for an OTB chess tournament, you'll want to know and be prepared for all the logistical details. After you find a tournament that you're interested in and are able to attend, be sure to preregister (if available — it allows for more peace of mind on tournament day). Add it to your calendar to make sure you don't forget, and include the address of the playing hall.

If this is your first tournament, you'll also need to get a US Chess membership as well as a state membership, if it’s required by the tournament organizers. Generally, you'll need to become a member before registering, but, in some cases, you can preregister and then buy the needed memberships on-site. As always, be sure to check the official tournament webpage for more information.

As for equipment, buy a chess clock (Leap chess clocks tend to be the cheapest with the necessary features, though DGT clocks are preferred) and a tournament chess board. These won't cost more than $50-$70, but, if you are unable to purchase these, you can borrow one from another chess player or possibly a local chess club. Usually tournaments won't provide boards or clocks, so it's in your best interest to have your own ready for tournament day.

Tournaments will also have additional rules in place that typically aren’t there for casual play. For example, the tournament hall is expected to be silent, eating and drinking should be done away from the board, you have to notate (write down) each move, etc. Also, the infamous touch-move rule: If you touch a piece, you have to move it. Other than these rules however, there isn’t much else that you need to know.

2. Practice with a real chess board and similar time control

One of the best ways, in my opinion, to prepare for a chess tournament is to practice in "tournament conditions". Even more important than preparing an opening repertoire, you should do your best to practice as if you were inside the tournament hall.

How exactly do you do this? Play with a real chess board in a quiet environment, with as close a time control to the tournament as possible. If you can't find any such over-the-board games, then you can play on chess.com or Lichess, but make the moves by looking at a physical board.

As for time controls, you'll want to have a time control that's similar to the tournament time control. For example, if your tournament is 90+30 or 60+10, then a 60-minute game is best (or 30+20 on Lichess). If it's only 40 minutes per side (G/40), then a 30-minute game is probably the best. Even if you're extremely busy leading up to the tournament, it’s still good to try and play the most similar time control that's possible.

3. Don't play chess a few days before the tournament

Generally speaking, you should avoid playing chess a few days or a week before a tournament. This is so you're relaxed and ready when you come to the tournament hall. Even though it may seem contradictory to preparing in #2 above, it tends to be better to not play much right before a tournament.

Instead, you should simply do what allows you to relax. If you enjoy watching TV shows and movies, reading novels, or binge-watching YouTube videos, then that’s probably the way to go. In my opinion, being calm and unstressed before a tournament is much more important than memorizing opening variations or drilling high-level tactics, especially at the lower levels of chess.

The night before, be sure to not stay up past your normal bedtime, and get a good night’s sleep. There is a plethora of scientific research demonstrating a correlation between sleep and productivity/success.

Note: This is a recommendation from someone who didn't study the night before tests and instead played video games. I may be a little biased, but I've found that this generally works (at least for me).

4. Tournament day tips

Before you go to the tournament, be sure that all the logistical difficulties (#1 above) have been taken care of. Also, make sure you take a water bottle and a few light snacks to eat during or between each game. Have a light/medium lunch or dinner (depending on how long the tournament is). Try to use the restroom before each round so that you don't have to go during the game.

Be sure to relax and have fun! Don't stress yourself over getting a good result or rating in your early tournaments (I personally got a 1.5/4, so not the best, but I still quite liked the tournament experience). Enjoy the game!

5. Analyze and review your games after the tournament.

The most important thing to do after a tournament, whether you performed well or poorly, is to analyze your games. Not only look at your mistakes, but also evaluate your psychological mistakes. For example, if you spent too much or too little time on a move, became stressed, had a headache, etc.

Generally, especially for over-the-board games, I recommend analyzing the game without looking at the engine in the beginning. Note down where you think you or your opponent made a mistake, whether that is minor or major, etc. without turning on Stockfish or another engine. Also write down your thoughts in certain positions to get a better understanding of where your strengths and weaknesses lay. After that, I recommend analyzing with the engine to see if there were any lines you missed and if your thought process was correct or incorrect.

Conclusion (TL;DR)

1. Know all the rules and have the logistics (registration, etc.) taken care of.
2. Prepare with a real chess board and similar (usually longer) time control.
3. Relax and don’t play chess right before the tournament.
4. Be calm and have fun during the tournament!
5. After the tournament, review and do a deep analysis of your games.

Thank you for reading! Please clap and respond if this article has helped you.