Advice For Your First Tournament: The Reality Your first…
0 reactions
Advice For Your First Tournament: The Reality
Your first tournament is going to teach you one important lesson very quickly:
children are not real people at chess tournaments.
You are going to sit down across from an 8 year old whose feet do not touch the floor. He will be holding a juice box. His mom will still be adjusting his hoodie while he’s already calculating a 14 move tactical sequence against your French Defense.
The entire game he will:
bounce his legs nonstop
walk around every 30 seconds during your think
stare at literally every board except his own
sigh dramatically any time you spend more than 45 seconds thinking
look completely uninterested in the position
Meanwhile he is also somehow 400 points underrated because his parents only let him play one tournament every 6 months.
You’ll think:
“okay good, at least this is a child.”
Then move 17 arrives and suddenly your position is collapsing from a pawn break you didn’t even know existed.
The funniest part is they never look intimidating. Ever. They look like they should be asking you what dinosaur is strongest. Then they casually uncork some disgusting exchange sac they learned at chess camp while kicking their legs under the table like they’re waiting for chicken nuggets.
And the worst feeling in chess is not losing to a GM.
It’s losing to an 8 year old who immediately runs away after checkmate to go look at someone else’s game while you sit there reevaluating your life choices.
#games
Your first tournament is going to teach you one important lesson very quickly:
children are not real people at chess tournaments.
You are going to sit down across from an 8 year old whose feet do not touch the floor. He will be holding a juice box. His mom will still be adjusting his hoodie while he’s already calculating a 14 move tactical sequence against your French Defense.
The entire game he will:
bounce his legs nonstop
walk around every 30 seconds during your think
stare at literally every board except his own
sigh dramatically any time you spend more than 45 seconds thinking
look completely uninterested in the position
Meanwhile he is also somehow 400 points underrated because his parents only let him play one tournament every 6 months.
You’ll think:
“okay good, at least this is a child.”
Then move 17 arrives and suddenly your position is collapsing from a pawn break you didn’t even know existed.
The funniest part is they never look intimidating. Ever. They look like they should be asking you what dinosaur is strongest. Then they casually uncork some disgusting exchange sac they learned at chess camp while kicking their legs under the table like they’re waiting for chicken nuggets.
And the worst feeling in chess is not losing to a GM.
It’s losing to an 8 year old who immediately runs away after checkmate to go look at someone else’s game while you sit there reevaluating your life choices.
#games
| 4,000 mlx | |
| 9 | |
| 0 |