Tournament Prep Advice

As a 1500USCF player, what part of my game should I be focusing on? This is only my 3rd tournament and the games I've played the opening, middle, and endgames are equally... well 1500 level I guess. Which is the best aspect to best to beef up?

As a side note since I have't played a bunch of games, I don't really have a grasp on how important opening prep is because I got pretty lucky that most of my opponents played openings I had looked at. How important is having a large repertoire or deepish lines?

Thank you for any advice!

Do you have some advice for people who only did study tactics? How can I start improving my game overall? What do you study usually?

General or months away:

There is a thought process that you should probably make openings some what low on the spectrum. Lets say you do training everyday. You should warm up with tactical exercises and cool down with tactical exercise. The most common limit is 10 minutes of medium level tactics, or 5-10 puzzles.. both sides.

Keep in mind this is a sliding scale. So you should base this on how much time you can allocate to your training during the week. And the percentages are a rough figure. As a 1500 there really is not a lot of opening theory you should need to study. Not trying to down play a C class player.. But most of the time class players will "over think" the opening. Some actually choose openings that require precision. If you have an easy opening system as a low rated player it makes your work easier.

1. Work about 10% openings

2. Work about 20% endgames.

3. Work about 40% on general middle game theory. (This does include combination/positional themes/calculation/tactical operations (Not puzzles)/ Study deep of games of players that match your openings).

The best advice is from GM Soltis.

"When you study a game from a high class master (2400+). You don't have to learn everything possible in one sitting. Simply take one, maybe two things away with each session and that can have significant benefits."

Try to look for something you have never seen before, or a theme from the game that you have seen. Try to understand it at a deeper level. Look into it more than superficially.

Work on psychology during the game. Focus on one thing to fix. For example: Train yourself to remind yourself each move that you should go over a thinking process. Even having mental checklists. Sometimes it's even beneficial to train yourself to change frame of mind when you change phases of the game and train yourself to recognize "red flag positions".

Finally take a good regime where you eat right and have regular exercise. Even something as simple as a swim or 30 min work out.

1-2 weeks or a few days, before the tournament:

Take a break from major training. Focus on mentality. Play some training games.

Get plenty of rest a day or two before the tournament..

I once gave advice to one of my students that he should increase his intake of Vit B12, Vit D, and Omega3. After a few tournaments he said it helped him.

Hope this helps.

Thank you! What you said about managing study time is super helpful and I really like that mental checklist you mentioned, I'll practice adding it into my games!

Not so much chess advice as memory advice -- use the physical necessities of tournament play to help you manage what ever thinking plan / check list you use.

For me - putting down my pen after notation is my cue to examine the threats my opponent has on the board. I put the pen down vertically - when I'm confident with my threat analysis, I turn it horizontal. If I catch myself picking up a vertical pen to make notation, it helps me remember to slow down and focus on my opponents' threats more.

Yes, putting down your pen is awesome advice.

Playing a tournament begin a long time before. Be healthy, good food, sleep enough, and so on.

MeWantCookieMobile summarize all the good stuff.
For the opening : work only your own opening, may be 2, not more than 4 IMO. Apply a thought process as soon as the first move, with the opening principles.

Establishing goals are good ideas too : winning 50% of the games, or no blunder at all, winning with the white, or win the advantage before the tenth move, and so on.

During the tournament, it is too late to improve your skills. Psychology will be your only weapon !

Share here your experience !

You should focus on tactics, playing a lot of games over the board and then analyzing them, first of all without engine, your thought process, or with a coach. Good luck. To work 20% endgames makes no sense to me on this level.
You don't need a large repertoire!

Vigilance against blunders which is another way of saying to have a good thought process in order to do well in your OTB games. If you keep playing solid to good moves without any obvious blunders, then you're really putting pressure on your opponents to do the same.