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Maintaining composure in OTB tournaments

I suppose there are two types of chess players (and it also applies to any other activity): the manic-compulsive-obsessive ones and the non-manic-compulsive ones... is it possible not to be rated above 1800? I suppose not... so actually the best tip would be, not to have problems with insecurity and EGO/ELO and enjoy the game... in the end we all have fun and everyone around us will also feel very good about ourselves...

I suppose there are two types of chess players (and it also applies to any other activity): the manic-compulsive-obsessive ones and the non-manic-compulsive ones... is it possible not to be rated above 1800? I suppose not... so actually the best tip would be, not to have problems with insecurity and EGO/ELO and enjoy the game... in the end we all have fun and everyone around us will also feel very good about ourselves...

Not seeing my opponent's rating until the game is over is something I always perceived as one of the biggest benefits of zen mode on lichess. Pity it doesn't help in 4545 League and its side leagues. Or that I don't have a "zen mode" in OTB tournaments. (I never saw a point in writing Elo in scoresheets, though.)

One thing I learned in the last season of regional team competitions is that being underrated is actually an advantage. I started the season (my first) with decent FIDE rating of 1680 but (initial) national rating only 1326 while I believe I should have at least 100 more (which would roughly correspond to my FIDE rating). It felt disappointing but soon I learned that some of the opponents are less careful against me and some try to push too hard for a win, making a mistake I could use. Also, the lower your rating is, the more you gain and the less you lose for the same result.

I also fully agree with the part about focus on your own game. Even in team matches, I only check results of finished games and sometimes take a peek what do those still played look like but I definitely avoid thinking about them much.

Not seeing my opponent's rating until the game is over is something I always perceived as one of the biggest benefits of zen mode on lichess. Pity it doesn't help in 4545 League and its side leagues. Or that I don't have a "zen mode" in OTB tournaments. (I never saw a point in writing Elo in scoresheets, though.) One thing I learned in the last season of regional team competitions is that being underrated is actually an advantage. I started the season (my first) with decent FIDE rating of 1680 but (initial) national rating only 1326 while I believe I should have at least 100 more (which would roughly correspond to my FIDE rating). It felt disappointing but soon I learned that some of the opponents are less careful against me and some try to push too hard for a win, making a mistake I could use. Also, the lower your rating is, the more you gain and the less you lose for the same result. I also fully agree with the part about focus on your own game. Even in team matches, I only check results of finished games and sometimes take a peek what do those still played look like but I definitely avoid thinking about them much.

@manoale50 said in #2:

I suppose there are two types of chess players (and it also applies to any other activity): the manic-compulsive-obsessive ones and the non-manic-compulsive ones... is it possible not to be rated above 1800? I suppose not... so actually the best tip would be, not to have problems with insecurity and EGO/ELO and enjoy the game... in the end we all have fun and everyone around us will also feel very good about ourselves...

I completely agree with you on the rating point. But in reality, it's pretty hard to remove that rating attachment unless you take smaller steps to try to fix it (obviously, from experience; just "doing it" doesn't really help). These good habits helped me overcome my obsession because I was feeling myself play better and with more focus (especially that first one).

@manoale50 said in #2: > I suppose there are two types of chess players (and it also applies to any other activity): the manic-compulsive-obsessive ones and the non-manic-compulsive ones... is it possible not to be rated above 1800? I suppose not... so actually the best tip would be, not to have problems with insecurity and EGO/ELO and enjoy the game... in the end we all have fun and everyone around us will also feel very good about ourselves... I completely agree with you on the rating point. But in reality, it's pretty hard to remove that rating attachment unless you take smaller steps to try to fix it (obviously, from experience; just "doing it" doesn't really help). These good habits helped me overcome my obsession because I was feeling myself play better and with more focus (especially that first one).

Knowing the rating of your opponent is a valuable piece of information to make decisions in a game. I gave in https://schaken-brabo.blogspot.com/2023/07/ongekwoteerd.html an example of making the wrong decision by not knowing the rating. So I always try to inform myself about my opponent.

Knowing the rating of your opponent is a valuable piece of information to make decisions in a game. I gave in https://schaken-brabo.blogspot.com/2023/07/ongekwoteerd.html an example of making the wrong decision by not knowing the rating. So I always try to inform myself about my opponent.

@mvhk said in #5:

Knowing the rating of your opponent is a valuable piece of information to make decisions in a game. I gave in schaken-brabo.blogspot.com/2023/07/ongekwoteerd.html an example of making the wrong decision by not knowing the rating. So I always try to inform myself about my opponent.

I completely agree on informing yourself about the rating of your opponent. My point was to encourage people facing issues with rating attachment to not write the ELOs down before their game ends, because having them on the piece of paper you write on the whole match is, in a way, a constant rating reminder.

@mvhk said in #5: > Knowing the rating of your opponent is a valuable piece of information to make decisions in a game. I gave in schaken-brabo.blogspot.com/2023/07/ongekwoteerd.html an example of making the wrong decision by not knowing the rating. So I always try to inform myself about my opponent. I completely agree on informing yourself about the rating of your opponent. My point was to encourage people facing issues with rating attachment to not write the ELOs down before their game ends, because having them on the piece of paper you write on the whole match is, in a way, a constant rating reminder.

@flash3s said in #6:

I completely agree on informing yourself about the rating of your opponent. My point was to encourage people facing issues with rating attachment to not write the ELOs down before their game ends, because having them on the piece of paper you write on the whole match is, in a way, a constant rating reminder.
Personally I never write the rating down of my opponent before a game. It is easy to make a mistake about the number and the opponent can be insulted. Nevertheless most scoresheets do have a special field for the ratings so organizers expect/ prefer participants to add it.

When recording the game afterwards I normally open the fidesite simultaneously to make sure I have the correct figure. Sometimes I even do it for myself especially now when fideratings are updated so often.

@flash3s said in #6: > I completely agree on informing yourself about the rating of your opponent. My point was to encourage people facing issues with rating attachment to not write the ELOs down before their game ends, because having them on the piece of paper you write on the whole match is, in a way, a constant rating reminder. Personally I never write the rating down of my opponent before a game. It is easy to make a mistake about the number and the opponent can be insulted. Nevertheless most scoresheets do have a special field for the ratings so organizers expect/ prefer participants to add it. When recording the game afterwards I normally open the fidesite simultaneously to make sure I have the correct figure. Sometimes I even do it for myself especially now when fideratings are updated so often.

@mvhk said in #7:

Nevertheless most scoresheets do have a special field for the ratings so organizers expect/ prefer participants to add it.
Personally, I never wrote the ratings to a scoresheet and never had anyone complain. I doubt organizers really care, they have no use for the information. They have more reliable ratings (imported from FIDE / national database) in their software anyway. On the other hand, a field for board number which would be way more useful (in an individual tournament) is quite rare in scorsheets.

When recording the game afterwards I normally open the fidesite simultaneously to make sure I have the correct figure.
Yes, when recording an OTB game into a lichess study, I fill in WhiteElo and BlackElo tags for information but then I also enter WhiteFideId and BlackFideId which are probably even more important.

@mvhk said in #7: > Nevertheless most scoresheets do have a special field for the ratings so organizers expect/ prefer participants to add it. Personally, I never wrote the ratings to a scoresheet and never had anyone complain. I doubt organizers really care, they have no use for the information. They have more reliable ratings (imported from FIDE / national database) in their software anyway. On the other hand, a field for board number which would be way more useful (in an individual tournament) is quite rare in scorsheets. > When recording the game afterwards I normally open the fidesite simultaneously to make sure I have the correct figure. Yes, when recording an OTB game into a lichess study, I fill in WhiteElo and BlackElo tags for information but then I also enter WhiteFideId and BlackFideId which are probably even more important.