Calming the Mind

This time, the day before my tourney, I decided not to do my normal last-minute frantic preparation, but to focus on calmness instead. Any joseki I didn't know yet, didn't need to be learned that day. Any other knowledge I was still lacking, wouldn't magically happen that day.

Instead, I replayed some older memorized pro games, games like the ear-reddening game and the game of the century. Learning from the masters can never be bad, right?

I went to bed rather early (well, at least for me ^^) and just hoped for the best. The words I kept repeating to myself 'Focus, calmness, and good moves'

When we arrived at the tourney, I sat down and replayed a Lee Changho game, talking about it with someone who was watching. After that, had time to play through ear reddening game with friend, before my first game. I felt this replaying pro games really helped me to calm my mind, instead of going through the pre-tourney 'What if I lose ALL my games????' panic.

While playing, I spent quite some time just sitting, breathing, and looking at the board before I made my moves. I feel it helped my game. It did not totally get rid of the hasty moves, but I made a lot less of them. My first two games were very focused. My last game... Well, let's just say I still have room for improvement :p Looking back, I can clearly see that I was tired, oh well. Will do better next time.