How do I recover from a catastrophic tournament?

I had easter break from school for 2 weeks. I spent the first week training 24/7. I was expecting to play my best chess and wanted to gain some rating to approach 2200 FIDE. The second week I played in the French under 18 championship. And I played TERRIBLY. I lost to an 1800 first. I didn't mind much because it happens I guess, but then the second defeat against another 1800 devastated me. I then lost game after game after game. Losing to more 1800's even a 1600! Last round I lost to a 1500. I played so badly. I missed obvious moves by my opponents, took so long to see basic tactics and threw easily winning positions up material.

I'm going to lose 200 rating. I don't think I'll play much because of school in the next 2 months. How do I recover from the trauma of that tournament? I can't think clearly doing anything now since the memories of missed wins and blunders keep coming back. And I started doubting my level of chess. Did I lose my level? Maybe I was overrated and just got lucky in the past? How do I recover psychologically?

Thank you for answering. Yes, I'll change my training plan before tournaments. Do you mean I should take a break from playing or even working on chess? I really feel like I want to work extremely hard on my chess so that the day I play I'll prove that I'm better than that, but maybe I should stop practicing for a while as well

en français ça serais bien aussi pour les francophone. merci

I play very good when I am good physically and soul (mind-control)!

I want to say maybe you should control your:

1) Health problems (Discipline your free times, doing sports etc, sleeping on time)

2) Healthy food always

3) Mind control (Give up all your bad habits if you have)

or maybe your brain is just tired it must rest, man!

Spend some time with stupid people. This will remind you that you're not one of them.

The experience was a lesson, though it might take some time to figure out what you've learned. It was not a catastrophe, since nobody died!

en français(approximativement)

J'ai eu des vacances de Pâques de l'école pendant 2 semaines. J'ai passé la première semaine à m'entraîner 24h/24 et 7j/7.  Je m'attendais à jouer mon meilleur jeu d'échecs et je voulais gagner pour approcher 2200 FIDE. La deuxième semaine, j'ai joué dans le championnat de France des moins de 18 ans. Et j'ai terriblement joué. J'ai perdu contre un 1800 première. Cela ne me dérangeait pas beaucoup parce que cela arrive, je suppose, mais la deuxième défaite contre un autre 1800 m'a dévasté. J'ai ensuite perdu match après match après match. Je perdu à de 1800 même un 1600 ! Au dernier tour, j'ai perdu contre un 1500. J'ai tellement mal joué. J'ai raté des mouvements évidents de mes adversaires, j'ai mis tellement de temps à voir les tactiques de base et j'ai facilement lancé des positions gagnantes.

Je vais perdre 200 FIDE. Je ne pense pas que je jouerai beaucoup à cause de l'école dans les 2 prochains mois. Comment puis-je me remettre du traumatisme de ce tournoi ? suis-je juste surestimé ?

(I did my best using my knowledge of French and google translate [was really long so did it in parts and re checked everything, fixing parts that didn’t make sense. Please tell me if I made mistakes )

Get on the turps, for sure.

Lol

I can certainly sympathize with a poor tournament performance as I have lost so many OTB games. Do not be too hard on yourself, you are a good player, chess is a hard game and there are many setbacks and disappointments on the road to improvement.

Not a direct answer to your question but the thing that immediately struck me about your profile is you have been playing a lot of blitz and bullet and not as much slow chess. It may be that your intuitions are very good due to playing a lot of speed chess but other aspects of your game are letting you down. Without actually seeing the games you played we can't know. How is your time management?

Consider joining the Dan Heisman Learning Center and practicing slow online games. Take time to reflect. Think about your thinking process. The Improving Chess Thinker is a good book to read to evaluate whether you are thinking about positions in the right way.

Bonjour Max

 merci pour la traduction.

Il ne faut pas te décourager comme ça,tu es en progression constante,et on a parfois des passages à vide,ne t'inquiète pas tu reviendras vite à ton meilleur niveau,j'en suis persuadé. Amicalement

ah...that sounds brutal..

consider joining the gym ?

veselien topalov blundered alot at one point because of his poor physique

he changed his diet , sleeping habits and started working out and he played better in those long tourneys...

U ofc not overrated or a bad player..

u indeed is one of a kind

and u r really talented and hardworking

if the problem is not what i mentioned then consider consulting a proffessional  medical service..

i would just sleep, drink soda, watch anime etc

#1

"I spent the first week training 24/7."
++ Excess is often bad. Did you do any physical training?

"I was expecting to play my best chess"
++ That is dangerous to expect. Why would that be?

"wanted to gain some rating to approach 2200 FIDE"
++ If you expect to gain rating, you often lose rating.

"And I played TERRIBLY. I lost to an 1800 first. I didn't mind much because it happens I guess"
++ You should mind. If you lose to an 1800, then how do you expect to win against a 2200? What was the root cause of your loss? If you cannot cure the root cause, you are bound to lose more. That is what happened. You missed the wake-up call of this first loss.

" but then the second defeat against another 1800 devastated me. I then lost game after game after game. Losing to more 1800's even a 1600! Last round I lost to a 1500. I played so badly. I missed obvious moves by my opponents, took so long to see basic tactics and threw easily winning positions up material."
++ I guess your 24/7 training has exhausted you. That coupled with unrealistic expectations about playing your best chess and gaining rating is a recipe for disaster. After the first losses you probably got disheartened and that caused more losses.

"How do I recover from the trauma of that tournament?"
++ By painstaking analysis of your lost games. Why did you play the wrong moves? What were you thinking? How much time did you spend? What was your mindset? How did you feel?

"the memories of missed wins and blunders keep coming back"
++ That is good. Analyse them and learn. Try to eradicate the same errors from your future play.

"I started doubting my level of chess."
++ You should always doubt your level. It is good to doubt, it is bad to be overconfident.

"Did I lose my level?"
++ Probably. Exhaustion from 24/7 training, wrong mindset, probably poor physical condition.

"Maybe I was overrated and just got lucky in the past?"
++ You probably earned your rating by playing your best chess and now lost rating by not playing your best chess. If you approach a game with an 1800 player as if it will be a walk in the park, then disaster is around the corner.

"How do I recover psychologically?"
++ By analysing your lost games.
In the future include outdoor physical exercise into your training schedule.

Well, first thing, progress isn't linear. If you're really training, that means that you are attempting to integrate challenging concepts that you didn't understand before into your chess thinking, which means you've taken something that was working at a 2200 level and you've broken it down and are trying to figure out how to add extra pieces into there without it breaking. As you found out, it inevitably breaks, and the only way to fix it is by making mistakes and trying again and again until you can recognize under what conditions those concepts work. This takes blood, sweat, and tears to accomplish. So congratulations!

On the other hand, this could be a "The truth hurts" type of scenario. Points feel good to the ego but aren't the only thing that keep people coming back for more. Times like this are perfect for self-reflection and to ask yourself why you play the game. This requires real honesty. If it turns out you're playing for points then it might be there are more meaningful things to do with your time, and while that's painful, it's also the only real way forward.

Just because you had a bad tournament it doesn't necessarily mean that your study method isn't working. It usually takes a while for your training to translate to wins or improved play. In fact, some people get worse when they train really hard because they are now trying to incorporate what they learned and this change means that the player is no longer doing the things that was working for them before. So short term you may see a dip but if you're dilligent with your study you will see long term improvements

Chess Dojo has done multiple videos on this topic and they've mentioned that similar things happen to their students

Also it seems like you're really motivated to improve so don't stop. Use this as fuel to study hard just know that you may not see immediate results but if you keep at it you will

Lastly, don't think about ratings whenever you're playing anyone. Respect your opponent even if they're way below you, as you've now learned even a 1500 can have a good game. I should know I once lost to a 1300 lol

No, I don't think ur overrated... We all have those days I just had it recently and it's pretty noticeable based on my play as well. Take time to analyze ur losses don't use an engine when ur analyzing maybe look for a training partner who is around your level. And take your TIME in all positions

Indeed I don’t treat sports very seriously. I will try to workout 

Thank you! That’s very good honest advice. My approach was indeed wrong. I’ll try my best to learn from my mistakes

That’s reassuring  thanks