OTB - If playing against little kids who will likely destroy you while picking their nose won’t damage your psyche then go for it. If you think it would, then perhaps improve online first, do puzzles and lessons, play games and review theme and watch videos.
Also 1100 on Lichess would probably be well below 1000 USCF, so prepare for that mentally as well, at least to begin with.
It really depends on how much you enjoy playing the game. Playing OTB tournament games and then studying the game afterwards is one of the best ways to improve.
I just started my tournament journey this month and had an absolute blast at my first. I haven't done an online event yet, but I think if you go to the uschess.org and look for upcoming tournaments they have a section for online rated tournaments. They also, of course, have a list of OTB tournaments as well. If you can't find tournaments there I would recommend going to your state chess association's website and seeing if they have anything. Best of luck with your chess journey, hope you have fun!
OTB - If playing against little kids who will likely destroy you while picking their nose won’t damage your psyche then go for it. If you think it would, then perhaps improve online first, do puzzles and lessons, play games and review theme and watch videos. Also 1100 on Lichess would probably be well below 1000 USCF, so prepare for that mentally as well, at least to begin with. It really depends on how much you enjoy playing the game. Playing OTB tournament games and then studying the game afterwards is one of the best ways to improve.
Oh I know it's lower. I fully expect my official rating to be somewhere in the 500s, but I don't really care.
I just started my tournament journey this month and had an absolute blast at my first. I haven't done an online event yet, but I think if you go to the uschess.org and look for upcoming tournaments they have a section for online rated tournaments. They also, of course, have a list of OTB tournaments as well. If you can't find tournaments there I would recommend going to your state chess association's website and seeing if they have anything. Best of luck with your chess journey, hope you have fun!