Chess tournaments and competitions are an integral and extremely important part of any sport. Tournaments foster a competitive spirit in a child, teach discipline and self-presentation.
It is known that any competition requires practice and hard work. But also, for a successful performance, an extremely important, and sometimes decisive, is the correct psychological preparation of the child for the competition.

In order for a child to be emotionally stable, assert their interests and positions, and feel good, it is necessary to pay attention to some points in his preparation.

1) Correct daily routine.

First and foremost, the child should feel well physically. Sleeplessness, hunger, a sore head – all these can be the basis for ill health and, as a consequence, insecurity, lead to emotional breakdowns. If there is something that strongly disturbs a child – he will not be able to join in the game at the chessboard, no matter how strong his motivation to win may be. Thus, it is necessary for a child to be healthy, sleepy and well-fed. In this case, it is not recommended to eat immediately before the game, because in this case, the body is primarily engaged in digestion, and the forces for intellectual activity is not enough.

2) Creating inner peace.

Strong impressions, emotional experiences – amusement rides, water parks, noisy holidays and other events that have a strong emotional impact on the child. The emotional charge a child receives can be so strong that any other information (such as a game of chess) may simply not fit into his or her thinking process. The child may not be able to engage in the game because he or she has not “digested” the new impressions and experiences. This makes him absent-minded and makes it difficult for him to really get involved in the chess game. Thus, before a tournament it is highly recommended to exclude such events and activities, which can cause an increased emotional outburst.

3) Feelings of responsibility

The level of responsibility a child experiences at a competition should be sufficient, but not too much. The child should understand that the competition is a responsible, serious story; it will motivate him or her not to be lazy and to give his or her best effort in the game.

However, if the level of responsibility is exaggerated, for many children it will be a powerful incentive to develop fears and insecurity. Exaggerated levels of stress interfere with effective decision-making. Many children in such a situation begin to “yawn”, make pointless moves, hurry up or simply sit and cannot dare to make a move, “dropping the flag”.

It is necessary to create the conditions for the child to be able to take responsibility. Of course it is necessary to explain to a child the importance of the event and the pleasantness of winning, raising status (rating, etc.), but you should not make winning an end in itself and put all the responsibility for it on the child’s shoulders.

In every game, set tasks for your child that he or she can understand, for which he or she will definitely be able to take responsibility.

In addition, there are children whose certain personality traits contribute to them becoming very anxious while doing any activity. For such children, competition can turn into a living hell. In such a case, it is important for a child to reduce responsibility and anxiety when participating in a competition. It is necessary to explain that he or she will play chess just as he or she does in practice and to lower the level of importance of making mistakes by allowing him or her to make them. Thus, it is important to form an optimal level of responsibility for each child!

4) Adequate self-esteem for the child.

In order for a child to feel confident in competition, it is very important to develop adequate self-esteem. No matter how poorly a child plays, it is by no means acceptable to rebuke, call a child names, and humiliate him or her. To spur the child on and motivate him to perform better, you should never tell him that he won’t succeed if he does poorly or as well as he is doing now. This approach can kill even the most resilient child’s desire to learn and place. Anyone can make mistakes, it’s important to explain to your child that anyone can make a mistake, it’s important to know how not to repeat it. In each batch, find out what the child is doing well and what tasks he is coping with, but also find the objective reasons that led to the failures. Don’t identify your child’s failures with him or herself! Failures are failures. They happen with some periodicity, but if the child connects himself too strongly with them he will quite quickly believe that he himself is a failure, and this is not the best basis for raising a real champion in him.