I played recently a club tournament and i was the weakest player.
objectively , my rating on a good day would be 1750-1800 and all my opponents were master candidates and higher..FM,GM...of course i had 1 point out of 18.
my question would be is it worth it to go through that emotional beating would i gain something out of it or is it simply wiser to sit those tourneys out and play someone closer to my strength while they play that?
My advice to young players is to play against as strong opponents as they can get. Sure, getting beaten is emotionally hard, but you learn much more from it than beating opponents of equal or lower strength. Counter side: if you cannot stand the emotional beating, you may lose your fun in the game.
I would suggest u to play with all kinds of players :) know ur level and try to step up with every level that will be success This is a ladder and u hv to step up one by one first know where u are :)
I am myself a new club and tournament player ( started playing chess 2 years ago from a beginner level). At first I was losing games to strong experienced club players and some candidate masters but with time and study I have started to get wins consistently against these stronger higher rated players.
From my perspective I say take every opportunity to play against these High rated players, ask for some analysis from them after each game as well, this analysis will benefit you tremendously.
Also remember to play without fear against higher rated opponents they have more to lose than you, so the pressure is off in some way. Play aggressive this will may surprise them as they will expect a lower rated player to play passive or to just defend.
Finally I recommend the book David vs Goliath Chess by Andrew Soltis. An excellent book which discusses the psychology and illustrates games where lower rated players have beaten or drawn with players much higher rated than them.
It may be a good way to get a free chess lesson from stronger players. I have found that stronger players after they beat you, often are willing to do a post mortem and show you where you went wrong. They'll explain their plans and what you should have done. Not all strong ones are so kind, but many who have a genuine love for the game will take their time. From this you can learn so much more than from books, computers, dvds, etc. It is worth losing a couple of games for.