Prepare a tournament repertoire by making your existing choices dependable. List your intended White opening, your main Black defences and the sidelines you regularly face. Check the forcing branches first: positions where a single inaccurate move loses material deserve attention before quiet alternatives with several playable continuations. Leave enough time to revisit the material after the initial study.
For each main line, prepare an exit point into the middlegame. Know the pawn break you are aiming for, the piece you want to improve and the tactical motif to watch. In a Najdorf position, White's sixth move can lead to very different plans; preparation for one attacking setup does not automatically cover another. Organise your notes by the opponent's meaningful choices.
Test recall under modest time pressure, then review errors without the clock. Practise from intermediate positions so that recognition does not depend entirely on replaying the first move. If you cannot explain a sharp line, choose a continuation you understand or allocate enough time to learn it properly. A memorised novelty is fragile when the opponent deviates one move earlier.
In the final days, favour revision and rest over a wholesale repertoire change. After each round, note a question for later analysis rather than rebuilding everything around one result. Tournament preparation should reduce avoidable uncertainty and preserve energy for calculation. It cannot remove the need to make independent decisions once the game leaves familiar ground.
Try this at the board
Pick a main line and name the first three opponent choices that require different plans.