Life In 19x19

Tournament go, it's a crazy thing. We stare at a piece of wood with black and white marbles on it for 2 hours or more, just to enter byo-yomi and play the endgame with real pressure on - that repeated for 5 rounds in a weekend. How does this make you feel? What does it do to your mind? Can you sleep afterwards?

Maybe it's because I'm such a reading machine and I can't trust my first feelings, but lately I found that maintaining my focus throughout the game is becoming harder and harder. My game is still fine until the end, but I'm just a total wreck afterwards... Maybe I should take a few months off from tournament go... Anyway, feel free to share your woes here - or tell your motivational stories. And don't forget to check the box in the poll .

Note: I just lost a difficult qualification play-off yesterday night - after playing on until late after midnight. Of course, my frustration has "absolutely nothing" to do with me setting up this poll

The go tournaments where I am are 4 games in one day of 45 minutes + fast Canadian overtime. That's pretty tiring, although every tournament I've played (three by now) I've had enough energy to play all four games.

The chess tournaments I play in tend to be either the same sort of structure as above (one day with 3 or 4 games each lasting 1.5 to 2 clock hours) or one game per week that lasts 4+ hours. I find the latter a lot less tiring even though the individual games last longer. When I play a lot of games in one day, it's tough to get my brain machine revving again after a few discrete bursts.

I usually play tournaments with 3 games on one day, and two on the other. After the third game of the first day, it's not uncommon to become zombified, but I feel pretty energetic after the others. I might feel a bit tired every now and then, but it alternates more between both of the above.
Edit: I replied other.

I replied zombiefied, but that's possibly not quite it. It's more a case of being completely useless. I'm both exhausted and totally wired, with all kinds of symptoms like: hallucinating go stones everywhere, a complete inability to concentrate on anything, and an inability to sleep.

I don't really feel any different. Maybe more relaxed because the nerves of not wanting to lose are gone.
It's only 5 games in a weekend. that is not much even if they are games with long thinking time.

My primary tournament experience has been at the 2009 US go Congress. This is a fairly leisurely six games over seven days (I used Wednesday as a day to rest and visit friends.).

After the game each day, I was so completely exhausted, I only wanted to sleep. I forced myself through lunch, and to attend the pro lectures. But I was burned out. I am really hoping that this was mostly because of jet-lag and huge time difference between the eastern and pacific time zones.

In retrospect, it gives me a all the more respect for people that come from overseas to attend or teach at the tournament.

I voted zombified, but I think that is a personal failing. I am still trying to get in better physical shape so that I can last through a tournament without feeling exhausted. I feel it would lead not only to better success in my games, but to a better enjoyment of the event, and of Go in general. When I am in good physical shape, the stress doesn't weigh so heavily.

rubin427 wrote:But I was burned out.

I am amazed that this seems to be quite common.
Oddly enough I've never felt burnt out from tournaments (in contrast to playing online). Quite the contrary: When playing tournaments I feel inspired and electrified from the adrenaline rush. In spite of that I feel do exhausted after three matches, and sometimes I cannot concentrate very much in the third game. I've had a look at my tournament stats:

day 1 match 1: 8-5 (usually a good start)
day 1 match 2: 10-3 (on top form)
day 1 match 3: 5-8 (concentration is gone)
day 2 match 1: 9-4 (good start on Sunday)
day 2 match 2: 5-8 (too easygoing, since my goal to win at least two games is already achieved)
day 2 match 3: 1-1 (there's only one tournament with six matches)

So, if I could, I would check both options, "exhausted" and "electrified".

Why wouldn't you be exhausted after a tournament? It's hard work.

I've only every played online tournaments (KGS), and they exhaust me. In part because the times are relatively short, and the games are late in the evening for me (in France). But playing three games in a row, with the added pressure of a tournament, is mentally taxing. I would think a F2F tournament would be easier, because the games are more spread out and longer, though I'd guess the concentration over those longer periods would be more taxing. I know that when I play slow games - 1:30 to 2 hours - I'm exhausted at the end.

isn't a regular working week 8 hours 5 day's in a row.

this looks like a lot more exausting then 4 hour (2 games) on Saturday and 6 hours (3 games) on Sunday.

Or are people just very lazy at work

Anyway I have no really work experience as I'm still in university. but for me a university exam, or a week filled with classes, are a lot more exhausting than a Go tournament.

freegame wrote:isn't a regular working week 8 hours 5 day's in a row.

this looks like a lot more exausting then 4 hour (2 games) on Saturday and 6 hours (3 games) on Sunday.

Or are people just very lazy at work

Because at work you're not expected to exert the maximum effort and do your absolute best in a highly competitive environment, and at a Go tournament you are. Exams are a better comparison.

palapiku wrote:Exams are a better comparison.

This is an excellent comparison, and that's exactly how I feel just before the tournament starts. I feel nervous, have to go to the rest room many times and walk around restlessly like a hunted rabbit. Once the first match has started, all that is gone and full concentration is focused on the game.

Playing very concentrated for more than two hours, short break, playing another very concentrated two hours, short break and then again, playing for more than two hours - how can that NOT be zombifying?

What I like to do is take short-burst naps between rounds. This is also what I do between hour-long study sessions. The difference even a 10-minute nap can make for both studying and playing tournament games is (to me at least) phenomenal.