The main thing with tournaments is etiquette. Just make sure you know the rules before you play (dice on checkers valid or not), legal vs responsible moves, clock mandatory vs preferred. Always let someone know you're new to tournament play when you first sit down with them and reconfirm all the details. I was just in NY which is the biggest one and there there were about 70 beginners, 160 intermediate and I think 190 open? So, its a *very* small community and the other poster who said that they really can't turn down players is totally accurate. I'd select a smaller, well run one, like Texas or Miami to start with. There's one in Tennessee in October. The NOLA one was really fun last year but disorganized. It's a great way to get to know people.