Chess tournament Tips and tricks
Enhancing your tournament skills and preparation.
Chess Tournament Tips and Tricks:
On the page here, I went over the basics to get you started at a chess tournament. These include learning how to notate moves (found here), and what you should expect to bring on gameday.
Here, I’ll now delve a bit further into making the most of your tournament play if it is something you wish to pursue, and give some advice specific to these events.
Preparing for a tournament:
Depending on your desired commitment to chess, how one practices chess and gets ready for a tournament may vary widely; and some may not prepare at all, which is totally okay! Again, let me remind the reader that tournaments are there for you to have fun with your chess play, and to connect you with others who hold similar interests.
If, though, you’re looking to take your play to the next level, then you may wish to consider practicing chess and honing your chess skills in addition (and potentially for) your tournament play. How you may wish to do this could be through chess books, local chess clubs, simply playing recreationally, getting a personal chess coach, etc. (For more information on such resources, check out our page here).
Regardless of your methodology for learning more about the game, however, there are some general pieces of advice that are helpful especially when it comes to tournaments.
Know some Openings:
One of the biggest challenges in anything can be knowing how to start. As a result, it’s often quite useful to come with some openings prepared, or that you’re otherwise knowledgeable of. This makes play more comfortable, as it gives you a place to start (that many skilled chess tacticians have likely perfected). It’s always good to make use of “standing on the shoulders of giants,” so to speak.
Brush up on chess basics:
Also especially helpful in tournament play is to be familiar with the basics of not only how the pieces move and so forth, but also with particularly mating patterns, endgame strategies, overall concepts, etc. (Check out our page here for move info).
Staying rested:
When it comes to a tournament, let me remind you that you’re hopefully there to enjoy yourself and have fun with your game. So, get some sleep the night before, eat well the morning of, and have a good time at the event.
Competitive Tournament play:
Say you’re a player who’s really excited and wishes to get as much chess into their life as possible with competitive play style. Then, here are some recommendations to have you hit the ground running.
Learn from better players:
Chess has been around for quite some time, so pay attention to what others have to say. In addition, if you face a loss, don’t simply blame yourself: review your game and analyze for improvements. This is what top-level players also do, after all.
Learning the Theory:
As a result also, chess has much underlying theory behind it. There’s names for practically every opening sequence you can imagine (that is at least somewhat reasonable; and even including for some of those that intentionally aren’t), and additional terminology to describe certain positions, move orders, etc. In addition, chess grandmasters have been at it for some time, and so there are thousands of games that can serve as great chess educators.
In sum, then, if you really wish to become a competitive chess player, then there is generally a good amount of studying of chess theory, puzzles, and notable games that you will do (especially from books). Of course, this is only to enhance your own chess skills and take things further; and if this is a path you wish to lead, I promise that it will be quite rewarding. But just don’t be hesitant to put in some time and effort toward it.
Coming prepared
As a tournament player, you generally will want to be especially knowledgeable in a handful of openings, both for white and black. These will serve as your opening repertoire that are the usual openings you use during gameplay. We mentioned this earlier as well.
Now, if your game is with someone of approximately the same rating as you, then it’s really up to you which opening you’d like to use. If, however, you are playing a higher-rated player, then I recommend not trying something new: simply play what you know. A more experienced, or at least higher-ranked player will likely be more knowledgeable of what for you may be uncharted territory, so just stick to those openings and move sequences you know best. And don’t worry fearing they may know them better than you do: you’re best chance is to beat them with what you are most familiar.
Chess is life:
In addition to simply preparing for an individual tournament, you may wish to consider making your chess education (such as through earlier-mentioned clubs, personal coaching, etc.) a more regular aspect of your life. This may involve weekly coaching sessions, Thursday-night school chess events, etc. Whatever it might be, it’s a good idea to make chess a habit, which will make your game and the chess tournaments you may find yourself in more like second-nature.
