The Chess Tournament

Solomon played in his first chess tournament yesterday. He's recently become really interested in the game and will play anyone who takes the time. He joined the chess club at school on Wednesday mornings and he's learning a lot there.

I taught him the basic moves 3 years ago and he started beating me shortly afterward. Granted, I am the last person who could be called good at chess but he was not yet 6 at the time! Now it's gotten to the point that he surprises me with some of his moves, ones that I had no idea were coming. Which, again, doesn't take a lot when I'm playing chess, but still. Can you tell I'm proud of him?

I was really impressed yesterday. Solomon is an impulsive kid and doesn't always listen when it counts. Since this was his first time in a setting like this, I was worried that he'd miss out on important instructions and be sorry about it later. But he didn't. He sat right in front at the players' meeting before all the action began and he soaked up every bit of it. He was calm and focused.

He lost his first two games and I was worried that he'd start to get down on himself after that. But he impressed me again. The tournament directors did a good job of constantly reminding the kids that this was all for fun, that they should do their best and enjoy the games, that they might learn something from the games they lost.

And then Solomon won the third game. I've never seen a happier smile on my child's face. It was a great feeling, for both of us. He lost his fourth game and won the last. I was floored by his composure during the whole thing. It was a long day with a lot of waiting around for pairings and standings to be posted but he kept his cool through the majority of it.

He received a participation trophy and lots of valuable pointers for the future. And it was nice to find out that of the three kids who beat Solomon, one was undefeated all day and another only lost one of his games.