Take a walk. That's literally it.

You come into a huge tournament ready to rock and roll. You feel ready. Your repertoire for the set of seven games is complete, and you've prepped as much for it as you physically could.

But after two depressing games, one of which you swear you could've won, you find yourself down 27 ELO with zero motivation to even look at a chessboard.

Losing those first couple of games will obviously deal you a huge psychological blow, especially if you faced opponents you knew you can easily beat on a good day. However, just because your tournament starts bad doesn't mean it has to end bad, too. I've recently started doing something that has dramatically boosted my late-round success in these scenarios.

Quick hint—it has nothing to do with chess.

Taking a walk

The one thing you shouldn't do after these kinds of burnouts is grinding chess and intensely preparing. You'll most likely end up in a spiral of frustration and tiredness because of your early performance that will bleed out into the rest of your games.

On the other hand, taking your mind off of chess is actually one of the best things you can do if you're having a poor start to your tournament.

One of my favorite ways to achieve this is by just walking outside. It will help you mentally reset and restore your focus for the remainder of the tournament. If you don't trust me (who doesn't, right guys?), there are thousands of studies out there backing up the benefits of a walk on your focus and health. Here's one of them.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't study at all—still prepare for your remaining rounds as needed, but only after that solid refresh.

A nice picture I took on a walk in Chicago after a crushing third round.

Here's a solid game I played against a 2100 just an hour or two after this picture was taken.

I know this post was quite short, but I do hope you found it helpful!