How to prepare for my first tournament?

[aokun]

The best preparation is probably having a good night sleep the night before, be rested and refreshed.

Excellent advice.

"O sleep, it is a gentle thing,
beloved from pole to pole.
To Mary, Queen, the praise be giv'n,
she sent the gentle sleep of heav'n
that slid into my soul."

Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"Sleep is a weapon. Use it."

Robert Ludlum, the Bourne Identity

"Snx. Snnnnnnnxx. nX."

Ferris Bueller

[cubesmith]

thank you ALL for the variety of advice!!!
Just reading your responses has calmed me down about the tournament... perhaps my best preparation is to come and re-read this thread before I set off!!

You've convinced me that I have nothing to worry about, I will be calm and collected, play my best, and most importantly, I will enjoy myself!
(Some of your more in-depth advice will be taken.. In addition to my ongoing study of the game, I will make sure I solve a few problems and review a couple of pro games the night before...)

Thanks again, and I'll be sure to let you know how it went.

[cubesmith]

Well, what a horrible experience!
I played all 3 of my games as white (after extensive study of possible black openings) and lost them all.

Game 1 - Was fairly even, but my opponent successfully kept sente and reduced my territory bit-by-bit. Lost by 18.5 moku.

Game 2 - I killed a huge group of his stones (actually, he self-atari'd his stones) and then I played a stupid invasion which lost me the game. Lost by 5.5 moku.

Game 3 - (The worst) Made a stupid mistake near the end and allowed his dead group to live. You should've seen the look on his face when I resigned because he was huffing and puffing like a little child when he thought he was losing the game, blowing his bad breath straight into my face. Very annoying opponent. Made me want to resign before middle-game even started. Maybe it's a tactic he uses. Maybe I should man up.

I'm not going to let this experience put me off playing go altogether, but I will definitely think twice about tournaments. The games were very long, and I could feel my attention disappearing towards the end of my games.

[Simba]

It happens. I entered my last tournament as 2k for the first time since I was 2k online, lost all three of my games too. Use it to motivate you though, especially the final guy you played. Are you really going to give up and let people like him stop you from enjoying yourself? People with an attitude like that are never going to improve much because they spend too much time on intimidation and anger than productively channelling their energy. He didn't win because he won that game. He would win if he managed to intimidate you and make you feel bad enough not to want to play in a situation like that again. Get stronger from it and don't let assholes put you down!

[Ortho]

I also lost all three of my games in the tournament the week before, all from winning positions. Maybe we should play each other so one of us is guaranteed to win!

[judicata]

Congrats on making it through your first tournament!

This happens to everyone. It's your call, but I would encourage you not to be dissuaded from entering more tournaments. Try to make/bring friends, see if your opponents or stronger players will review a game with you, etc. If you love the game, I would bet you can also love the tournament scene. Sure, it is possible (but very unlikely IMO) that tournaments just aren't for you--but I certainly wouldn't decide that based on one experience.

Keep your chin up and learn from the experience.

[Tofu]

Game 3 - (The worst) Made a stupid mistake near the end and allowed his dead group to live. You should've seen the look on his face when I resigned because he was huffing and puffing like a little child when he thought he was losing the game, blowing his bad breath straight into my face. Very annoying opponent. Made me want to resign before middle-game even started. Maybe it's a tactic he uses. Maybe I should man up.

If someone's a jerk like that you should just meditate your time away, while he sits there. If he gets up, make a quick move and hit his timer. Let him sit there while he wins on time.

Just joking of course. I can't stand rude players "huffing and puffing". I was in one of those games recently in a tournament also and it does not make for a very enjoyable experience.

[cubesmith]

Yeah, apologies for the negativity! I'm not completely deterred, seems to happen to everyone now and then. I definitely ought to work on my stamina though.

Ortho, let's play! I'll give you a shout on here next week, got a lot on this week.

[hyperpape]

Yeah, apologies for the negativity! I'm not completely deterred, seems to happen to everyone now and then. I definitely ought to work on my stamina though.

Ortho, let's play! I'll give you a shout on here next week, got a lot on this week.

Most of us do struggle with attention and focus while playing. But it can be an awesome feeling to sit down with 60 minutes on your clock and actually play to your potential for that whole time.

[xed_over]

a number of years ago, in my 2nd US congress tournament, I kept noticing a lady a few boards away who kept getting up from the table and walking around every few minutes. I felt it was distracting even though I wasn't playing her. But mostly I kept thinking to myself, "I hope we don't get paired in later rounds"

We got paired about round 5 or so. Turns out, by that time I had already decided to just play my game the best I could and not allow myself to be distracted further. We had a nice game. I forget now who won. And she's a nice lady (and used to be a regular poster here (and godiscussions)).

I've since learned that there are a lot of people, who for one reason or another have issues they can't help. Bad back and has to stand. Has to go to bathroom a lot. Blind and has to play with face 2 inches above the board (nice guy too). Hands shake and can barely place a stone without disturbing other stones nearby (also a really nice guy). Etc.

You've just got to put it out of your mind and play your own game.

I wonder what bad habits I have that bother other people that I don't realize I have. Of course, if I knew, I might change, or I might exaggerate just to annoy (depending on my opponent, of course)

[daniel_the_smith]

Game 3 - (The worst) Made a stupid mistake near the end and allowed his dead group to live. You should've seen the look on his face when I resigned because he was huffing and puffing like a little child when he thought he was losing the game, blowing his bad breath straight into my face. Very annoying opponent. Made me want to resign before middle-game even started. Maybe it's a tactic he uses. Maybe I should man up.

Was he doing it on purpose? Sometimes go players can have sub-par social skills, he might not have realized how annoying he was being...

[topazg]

Well, what a horrible experience!
I played all 3 of my games as white (after extensive study of possible black openings) and lost them all.

Game 1 - Was fairly even, but my opponent successfully kept sente and reduced my territory bit-by-bit. Lost by 18.5 moku.

Game 2 - I killed a huge group of his stones (actually, he self-atari'd his stones) and then I played a stupid invasion which lost me the game. Lost by 5.5 moku.

Game 3 - (The worst) Made a stupid mistake near the end and allowed his dead group to live. You should've seen the look on his face when I resigned because he was huffing and puffing like a little child when he thought he was losing the game, blowing his bad breath straight into my face. Very annoying opponent. Made me want to resign before middle-game even started. Maybe it's a tactic he uses. Maybe I should man up.

I'm not going to let this experience put me off playing go altogether, but I will definitely think twice about tournaments. The games were very long, and I could feel my attention disappearing towards the end of my games.

Do you have any upcoming tournaments you're interested in? Trigantius Bar-low, anything South-east ish?

[cubesmith]

Unfortunately not. After a quick scan of the tournament calendar, I'll probably be looking at the "Northern" tournament in September and the "Three Peaks" tournament in November..
It will usually be tricky for me to attend any tournaments down south, however, I may be tempted by the Mind Sports Olympiad in August. I'll let you know if I do.

Cheers

[tapir]

I believe going with the aim to lose all games is one of the worst things you can do psychologically.

I would say, one should go with a realistic rank (= lower than on KGS for EGF players) and try hard to win, but if you don't see any way to win a game short of a blunder of the opponent, resign without remorse. (I often fail to do that, but I feel much better in tournaments where I am able to resign lost games.)

[cubesmith]

tapir,

Yes, I realise now that I entered with the wrong rank. Next time I will minus 1 from whatever rank I have at the time.

Regarding your advice on resigning... Strange, because people mostly tell me never to resign (at my level). Usually I find it difficult to know who is winning a game so it's probably best to play the game out to the end?