I returned to the game as an adult after many many years away. My
first tournament was a disaster, as expected, but in the past six
months I've played seven more tournaments, and my USCF rating has gone
from a horrible 978 to a much better 1376. Not a rating to brag about
but a lot better than where I was.

So now I'm going to play the North American Open in Las Vegas just for
the heck of it and to have a winter vacation. It's a big money
tournament with a relatively hefty entry fee, but I'm willing to fork
it over just for the experience. Section prizes are high, but based on
history there should be maybe 150 players in a section competing over 7
rounds for just 10 prizes per section. Poor odds even for Vegas

I play better against better competition --- no surprise there, I
imagine we all do. So should I stay in the "under 1400" section or
play up a level, in the "under 1600"? My fear is that if I stay in the
U1400, I might score a bit higher than in the U1600, but I'm likely to
do less well than I might like, especially as it seems the lowest
sections are filled with youthful up and comers whose ratings don't
keep up with their rapidly increasing skills.

However conventional advice is seems to be to play up most of the time,
but play in your regular section when substantial prize money is at
stake.

Any opinions on this?

wrote:
I returned to the game as an adult after many many years away. My
first tournament was a disaster, as expected, but in the past six
months I've played seven more tournaments, and my USCF rating has gone
from a horrible 978 to a much better 1376. Not a rating to brag about
but a lot better than where I was.

So now I'm going to play the North American Open in Las Vegas just for
the heck of it and to have a winter vacation. It's a big money
tournament with a relatively hefty entry fee, but I'm willing to fork
it over just for the experience. Section prizes are high, but based on
history there should be maybe 150 players in a section competing over 7
rounds for just 10 prizes per section. Poor odds even for Vegas

I play better against better competition --- no surprise there, I
imagine we all do. So should I stay in the "under 1400" section or
play up a level, in the "under 1600"? My fear is that if I stay in the
U1400, I might score a bit higher than in the U1600, but I'm likely to
do less well than I might like, especially as it seems the lowest
sections are filled with youthful up and comers whose ratings don't
keep up with their rapidly increasing skills.

However conventional advice is seems to be to play up most of the time,
but play in your regular section when substantial prize money is at
stake.

Any opinions on this?

Are you playing for prize money, or for the competition?

If you are playing for the prize money, playing up makes no sense. You
will NOT win a prize in the U1600 section.

It's entirely possible (likely, even) that you won't win a prize in the
U1400 section - but at least you have a shot.

The difference is: in the U1600 you will be paired up every round
(except for the round that you get the BYE). In the U1400 section, you
will be paired down every round (sometimes WAY down).

As for "youthful up and comers" - you'll see those in the U1600 section too.

For players looking for good competition, wanting to improve their game,
here is my standard advice:

a) if your rating is within 100 points of the section cap (as yours is
here), then you should DEFINITELY play up

b) if your rating is within 200 points of the section cap, then you
should CONSIDER playing up

c) if your rating is more than 200 points lower than the section cap,
stay there.

If I were rated 1376, I would enter the U1600 section.

--
Kenneth Sloan
Computer and Information Sciences +1-205-932-2213
University of Alabama at Birmingham FAX +1-205-934-5473
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://www.cis.uab.edu/sloan/

In article .com,
" wrote:

My
first tournament was a disaster, as expected, but in the past six
months I've played seven more tournaments, and my USCF rating has gone
from a horrible 978 to a much better 1376.

Definitely play up.

Not only are you only 24 points from the rating cap, but you've improved
drastically over the last six months. That probably means that you're
under-rated.