Tournament coming

I have a tournament coming this sunday. My first one since I've restarted with chess. It won't be a big tournament nor nothing like that, still I'm feeling a little bit shaky. The time controls will be 20 mins per player, not I would want to play in this rusty state of mine but heck I need the experience and the rush.

So here I am asking for some advices. I know there has been some threads on this issue before, but I think my case is somewhat different so I don't know if those advices apply to me as well. I haven't played chess for 10 years at least till I've joined RHP and on my last tournament I was something like 10/11 years old. Thus i forgot a lot of things, even though I'm slowly catching up. And also i think I'll have major problems with the time.

So what d you guys say I should do?

Ps: And on top if that I don't have that much of free time, but you can give me all of your advices, cause if I don't use them on this tournament I'll use them on some future one. Or at least I'll try to.

If you have problems with time controls, play fast.

The fact is that if you haven't played for decades then there is no instant cure for you. You probably will lose most of the games no matter what. Experience plays huge role in OTB tournaments, and especially rapid ones.

Originally posted by Jusuh
If you have problems with time controls, play fast.

The fact is that if you haven't played for decades then there is no instant cure for you. You probably will lose most of the games no matter what. Experience plays huge role in OTB tournaments, and especially rapid ones.

Originally posted by adam warlock
I will have to play fast and I expect to lose most of my games, but heck I will try hard. Haven't played for decades?! Nah!! I'm just 24 and haven't played for a decade.
From your previous post i know that you appreciate blitz chess a lot so do you have any advice?

Originally posted by Jusuh
hard to give any tips. Of course the usual boring ones like: avoid time troubles, be confident, keep cool head etc etc.

...but I don't know any advice which really would help. If I was you I would solve lot of fast tactics (like CTS) on thursday/friday, but thats more a personal preference than an general advice.

accept the fact that you're rusty and just enjoy the moment. if you haven't played competitively in ten years, it will take 12 months or more to return to your previous state.

Originally posted by tonytiger41
accept the fact that you're rusty and just enjoy the moment. if you haven't played competitively in ten years, it will take 12 months or more to return to your previous state.

Originally posted by adam warlock
Pfffffffffffff. 12 months........... arghhhhhhhhh
my future looks so grim now............ 12 months..........
just have to cope with it then.

Originally posted by shortcircuit
you can always try the "eat a clove of garlic before the match trick".
:-)

Originally posted by adam warlock
ahah!
that looks like a fine idea.... 😉

Originally posted by AlphaAlekhine
Wow, I never play anything below G/45, so I don't know what I could offer you. What I could say, is don't go into a rated event of any type, unless you feel you are prepared for it. You might try preparing some opening lines, so as not to waste time. Know which openings you are going to use against e4 and d4, and based on your situation, I would onl ...[text shortened]... tournament. Study your tactics hard core, get plenty of sleep the night before, and have fun!

I think playing some 20min or faster games on the internet would be a good idea to get used to the time control.

Thanks all of you guys for the advice!

This is how it went down.I've played a lot of games with my girl. She had unlimited time and I had 10 mins. I think this was a really helpful shock therapy to get me used to the time limit. Then I've read a little bit on some openings that I was planning to use.

Then came sunday and the tournament with it. At all with was 5 games with 18 participants. I've managed to get two defeats, two wins, and one draw. A pretty good result if you ask me given my current condition and rustyness.

Two weeks for now I'll have another tournament coming and I'm hoping to do well.

Right on. You'll be taking home trophies in no time.

Originally posted by AlphaAlekhine
Right on. You'll be taking home trophies in no time.