Nathaniel won first place at the state tournament
the next weekend.
I know I haven't blogged in a while, and I'm headed to bed in a few minutes since it's super late. I just didn't want to forget to blog about Naaman's final chess tournament of the year. Let me give a little background...Naaman just started playing chess last spring or so. He likes playing games, and we heard chess is popular at his school, so we signed him up for the chess club. Lo and behold, the Colene Hoose Chess Team is VERY good. They finished in the top 10 at the national competition last year. We finally persuaded Naaman to play in a tournament this Spring only after one of the volunteer coaches told him he should try it. (He had already missed the first 2 tournaments.) Needless to say, we did not expect him to win any matches when a lot of the other kids have 2 more years of experience, parents who actually have time to practice daily, and one-on-one coaching from professionals. We were proud and amazed that he won 1 and had 1 draw out of 5 games. He had a really fun time, so we signed him up for more tournaments. Naaman was having a good time, but it was taking most of the day on Saturdays for him to go, and the girls couldn't hold out all day at the tournament. It meant some weekend separation for our family, which was hard for Rudy especially. So Rudy and Naaman generally stayed for the matches and then left before the award ceremony, knowing Naaman would not win a trophy even if his team always won the tournament.
I told Rudy that I thought Naaman should hang around for the awards ceremony at the last tournament (I think it was his fourth of the season.) It just seemed like good sportsmanship to support the team. Anyway, we were completely shocked when they announced the award for "First Place for an Unrated Player." We didn't know such an award existed. I guess they are trying to give some encouragement to the kids who are new to the game. His 2 wins and 1 draw that day gave him enough points to win the award! We were all completely shocked and so proud of him. Hoose won the tournament and then went on to win the state championship the next weekend. Yea Naaman! I just had to have a proud parent bragging moment. There were probably about 80-100 kids competing in his grade level, so it was a pretty big deal. Plus, he got a big trophy, as you can see from the pic:) He was completely ecstatic.
I'll try to post about our recent Alabama trip tomorrow. Let me just say that my new nephew is ADORABLE! I will also give the update on our most recent basement flood. Ugh! Must go to bed now.
