Gerbhardts? That’s not obscure. That’s pretty standard. But you don’t need it.
I only entered one chili contest and, out of a dozen competitors, I won it. I went against my instinct of doing a Midwest chili which everyone here is most familiar with and did more of a bowl of Texas red. How the fuck it won is beyond me. My prize was a couple cans of Wolf chili. 
I’ve refrained from entering chili contests since then and just end on a high note.
What did I do? So I did a coarse ground of beef chuck mixed with hand cut boneless short ribs. I did grill the boneless ribs over coals, but I don’t think that made as much of a difference as I hoped it would. I did not want a smoked flavor, else that would have been my go-to. (And, honestly, to separate yourself from the pack, a smoked item will make you stick out.)
For the chili powder, my base was ground anchos and good Hungarian paprika. For the middle part of the chili flavor, some ground pasilla, and then for the heat, arbol/cayenne/dried Thai. Something like that. Add a little chipotle if you want some smoke, either dried or in a can with adobo. But think in terms of layers of chile flavors.
For liquid, I think I just used broth. Back then, I think I may have used New Belgium’s Abbey Ale, as something not hoppy, with a bit of sweetness, no added bitterness. The old Newcastle was good for that, but not today’s formulation. But I’m no typically a beer-in-chili guy.
Spices? Cumin, garlic (fresh and powder). Use a stock cube or straight-up MSG to amp it up. This makes a huge difference I believe for a contest where each person may only have a spoon or two of the chili. I also like to add a light “accent” spice, which in my case is a little bit of allspice. Nothing else. Oh, sorry, a bit of oregano, as well. You can go Mexican or Mediterranean here. Different flavors but both work.
I’m not even sure if I used tomato in my winning chili. I think it was just onions for the base. Maybe I put some tomato paste, but I don’t think so. And use less liquid than you think you need, as all the meat and onion will pull out a lot of liquid from themselves.
Just some general ideas. I make chili in all sorts of styles with sun and sundry ingredients, but that’s my recollection of the winning one.