Today was Isabel’s first chess tournament. I didn’t really know what to expect – a dozen kids in a classroom or a thousand milling little monsters in a cavernous hall. Would there be refreshments? Would the kids all be little grand masters, way over her head, leading to humiliation and tears? Or would they be a bunch of little brats corralled by their parents into chess when their only true desire in life is to sit on the couch and watch video games?
The truth turned out to be pretty much right down the middle. I was still a bit groggy when we got out of the house at 8 but we had no trouble getting there, a light rain started as we waited for the bus at Kačerov, but the school turned out to be right next to the bus stop. So, if it rained harder later, I don’t know. We had stepped into a different, self-contained universe.
There were 108 kids in the tournament, each with at least 1 parent, some with a more extended entourage, so it was pretty crowded. There were refreshments.
She lost her first 3 games. But she was totally focused, she played competitively, and acted politely. I couldn’t have been prouder.
I saw a little boy in tears, begging to go home. I was just glad she wasn’t acting like that.
She won the next one, drew two, and won the last one.
She was pleased, she was going over the moves with our friend the chess expert, she’ll probably want to do it again, so it was a great experience.
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