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My first OTB tournament is a disaster

Without going into too much detail:

It's perfectly normal for your first OTB tournament not to go so well. Usually, you handle it well as a first experience. However, if you've been dominating online chess beforehand, you secretly have quite high expectations. If things don't go so well during your first OTB, you quickly become nervous and put yourself under too much pressure. This negatively affects your players in the tournament.

Your next OTB tournament will go better!

Without going into too much detail: It's perfectly normal for your first OTB tournament not to go so well. Usually, you handle it well as a first experience. However, if you've been dominating online chess beforehand, you secretly have quite high expectations. If things don't go so well during your first OTB, you quickly become nervous and put yourself under too much pressure. This negatively affects your players in the tournament. Your next OTB tournament will go better!

Also, are you sure you are looking at your opponent FIDE ELO rating, and not their national rating (called DWZ)? If you are looking at DWZ, often they are up to 200 points or so lower than FIDE.

Also, are you sure you are looking at your opponent FIDE ELO rating, and not their national rating (called DWZ)? If you are looking at DWZ, often they are up to 200 points or so lower than FIDE.

Correspondence ratings here really are a different beast. I have a 2000 provisional rating, but I’m under no illusions that if I played someone with a similar rating in an over-the-board or live Blitz game, they would absolutely crush me. On a good day, I’m a mediocre club player at best.

I typically spend 10–15 minutes per move, but it’s clear many treat this like Blitz. I’ve won (and lost) games simply by timing out or just waiting for an opponent to make a blunder.

I’ve actually been feeling a bit of "database guilt." Using the opening book makes it feel too easy to reach an equal middlegame without much effort. I often wonder how many opening traps would burn me if I didn't have that record of historical master games to save me from dumb early mistakes.

I’m honestly considering winging it through my next few games. Relying only on my (very fuzzy) memory of books I read years ago and my own calculation on the analysis board. "Hello 1500 rating, nice to meet you again."

Correspondence ratings here really are a different beast. I have a 2000 provisional rating, but I’m under no illusions that if I played someone with a similar rating in an over-the-board or live Blitz game, they would absolutely crush me. On a good day, I’m a mediocre club player at best. I typically spend 10–15 minutes per move, but it’s clear many treat this like Blitz. I’ve won (and lost) games simply by timing out or just waiting for an opponent to make a blunder. I’ve actually been feeling a bit of "database guilt." Using the opening book makes it feel too easy to reach an equal middlegame without much effort. I often wonder how many opening traps would burn me if I didn't have that record of historical master games to save me from dumb early mistakes. I’m honestly considering winging it through my next few games. Relying only on my (very fuzzy) memory of books I read years ago and my own calculation on the analysis board. "Hello 1500 rating, nice to meet you again."

For many players who have been playing online (almost) exclusively, the very experience of playing on a physical board is something that needs some time to get used to. And even if you played some casual games with friends, you may keep forgetting to press the clock, recording the moves is not an automatic skill either etc. The tournament environment can be also quite overwhelming and very different from a small comfortable room. Weird pieces, weird boards, weird clocks, weird lighting, weird people... Playing nine rapid games in one day - 1-2 classical day after day for a week - can be quite exhausting even if you have done it many times before, even more so if it's your first experience. When you suffer a bad loss online, you can take a break to clear your head and only play again when you feel OK; in a rapid tournament you may have only minutes to recover.

Some adapt fast, some take more time. The key is not to overestimate the short team result streaks, neither the bad ones nor the good ones. Neither you are the worst player ever just because you suffered three stupid losses in a row, nor are you a future world champion just because you scored three easy wins. IMHO the best attitude in your first tournament when you have no idea what to expect is: I'll do my best and see how it goes. And if your rating is going to be lower than it should be, it's not the end of the world, at least it will be easier to raise it later.

For many players who have been playing online (almost) exclusively, the very experience of playing on a physical board is something that needs some time to get used to. And even if you played some casual games with friends, you may keep forgetting to press the clock, recording the moves is not an automatic skill either etc. The tournament environment can be also quite overwhelming and very different from a small comfortable room. Weird pieces, weird boards, weird clocks, weird lighting, weird people... Playing nine rapid games in one day - 1-2 classical day after day for a week - can be quite exhausting even if you have done it many times before, even more so if it's your first experience. When you suffer a bad loss online, you can take a break to clear your head and only play again when you feel OK; in a rapid tournament you may have only minutes to recover. Some adapt fast, some take more time. The key is not to overestimate the short team result streaks, neither the bad ones nor the good ones. Neither you are the worst player ever just because you suffered three stupid losses in a row, nor are you a future world champion just because you scored three easy wins. IMHO the best attitude in your first tournament when you have no idea what to expect is: I'll do my best and see how it goes. And if your rating is going to be lower than it should be, it's not the end of the world, at least it will be easier to raise it later.

@CG314 said ^

Also, are you sure you are looking at your opponent FIDE ELO rating, and not their national rating (called DWZ)? If you are looking at DWZ, often they are up to 200 points or so lower than FIDE.

Yes, sorry. It is indeed the DWZ.

@CG314 said [^](/forum/redirect/post/qomAQn84) > Also, are you sure you are looking at your opponent FIDE ELO rating, and not their national rating (called DWZ)? If you are looking at DWZ, often they are up to 200 points or so lower than FIDE. Yes, sorry. It is indeed the DWZ.