With this as prologue, you can see why Harper was excited to learn that Dilworth was starting a chess club on Wednesdays before school. While getting out the door at 7:30 isn't exactly my idea of a good time, I was delighted to give Harper a chance to learn with about 40 of her peers from a saint of a Dilworth parent who seems pretty darn serious about chess. Last week, said parent sent an email to the rest of us letting us know about the Utah Elementary Chess Championships was happening at the University of Utah. I was instantly intrigued. I love exposing the kids to new experiences and my only reference point for kid chess tournaments, or any chess tournaments, were from Searching for Bobby Fisher and, more recently, the Queen's Gambit. Fortunately, Harper was equally excited to play in a tournament so we signed her up and hoped for the best.
Saturday morning rolled around, and I truly didn't know what to expect as I packed up a small cooler full of strawberries, clementines, chips, and Uncrustables (don't judge). Harper was supposed to be "on board" at 9:00 am so we left the house about 8:15 and drove the familiar route to the University of Utah where I work. The tournament was bigger than I thought, with hundreds of kids filling up the Student Union. Harper was in the smaller kindergarten/first grade room adjacent to the large ballroom where parents and kids relaxed between games. There were 32 first graders in the tournament, and I was surprised to see that about half of them were from a private school called Waterford. More on that later. My first impression was that it basically looked like smart kid central. Observing the giant hall before our first game, I spied lots and lots of kids reading books (my people) and fewer, but still a significant amount of kids, playing warm up chess with their parents on roll-up boards. I became acutely aware that while I brought my kids and food, I forgot to bring anything to actually do between Harper's games. No toys, no books, no tablets. I might be a rookie chess mom, but I am no stranger to all-day events and needless to say, I should have known better.
The tournament itself was run exceedingly well. The pairings for the first game were released a few minutes before 9:00, giving the kids a chance to go find their board. An interesting thing about chess compared to sports and other activities is that the parents aren't allowed to stay in the room. I was allowed to walk Harper to her board, give her a kiss, and say good luck, but then I had to disappear to the other side of the glass wall. In other words, you can watch your kid play but from outside of the room. I imagine at other venues, you may not be able to see your kid play at all. Honestly, as much as I love cheering for my kids, there's something I kind of love about this. When I coached volleyball for 12 and unders, there were plenty of parents I would have loved to banish to another room. Chess kids can just focus on their game and not get distracted by parental expectations or worse, bad behavior.
I should interject here to say I was slightly worried about Harper's first game. I could decipher from the pairings sheet that some kids were "unrated" like Harper, and other kids had US Chess Federation ratings from previous tournaments. The first girl Harper played had the highest numerical rating on the sheet. Gulp. I wasn't sure what getting creamed looked like in chess, but that's what I was prepared for and tried to level set Harper's expectations according. "Remember, it's just for fun! Win or lose, you're going to learn so much!" Predictably, Harper did lose the first game, but it still looked like a good game. Harper was disappointed but fine. We talked about saying "thank you" and "good game," which I could see through the glass hadn't happened.
There's a lot of waiting around between games. You have to wait for all the kids to finish playing and then they have to go calculate new pairings so there's at least 30-45 minutes of downtime in between games. I was grateful that a nice dad who runs the Whittier chess club and teaches math at the U, played a game with Ashton in between the first and second match. I never knew how much of Harper's "instruction" had gotten through to Ashton, but I learned he actually did know how all the pieces move. As the day went on, the general decorum of the room deteriorated, which was hilarious to behold. As well-behaved, quiet, and studious as the children were at the beginning of the day, by the end of the day they were almost all running around the room, playing hide and seek and tag or playing on tablets. They are smart kids no doubt, but, to my great relief, still kids.
Harper's second game of the day was more evenly matched. She played a sweet girl named Penelope and unlike her first match, they actually talked to each other a little while they played. The game was long, each capturing most of each other's pieces before Harper emerged victorious. Winning her first game was thrilling for Harper, and she started dreaming aloud about winning one of the trophies on display in front of the room. I could see that there were trophies for 1st through 15th place in varying sizes, and with 32 first-graders, it didn't take a math genius to ballpark that you have to win at least 3 of your 5 matches to get a trophy. I let Harper know that and also reminded her that we were here to learn and have fun, and even if she didn't win a trophy today, if she practiced hard she could certainly win one in the future. Harper heard me, but she still couldn't keep her eyes off of those trophies.
Speaking of trophies and winning, the intensity of some of the chess parents was something to behold. Most parents, like most people in general, were very nice, and I enjoyed getting to know them throughout the day. I could tell straightaway that some of them were more businesslike and hands-on with their kids, going over the matches as soon as their kids emerged from the room. They could tell how the games were going in real time and often wore t-shirts of their kid's chess teams or quirky chess apparel like, my favorite, a "Me and this army" sweatshirt with images of king, queen, knight, bishop, rook, and pawn pieces. All of that was great, but when I saw a dad let his kid have it after a match, it took every ounce of willpower not to remind him that it was just a game and his son is just a kid. There was also an uncomfortable moment later in the day, when the tournament organizer gathered the parents together to let us know that there had been reports of a parent signaling moves to their kid. If caught doing so, the organizer said he would have no choice but to pull that child from the tournament. Reminder... a kindergarten and first grade tournament.
Coming into the third round at 1-1, Harper's next opponent was a boy from Waterford who was ranked eighth in the tournament. Let's circle back to the aforementioned Waterford. I had never heard of Waterford before Saturday, but apparently it's a private school in Sandy that is very, very serious about chess. My first exposure at the tournament was seeing a sign at the front entrance directing the Waterford kids to their own private room to relax in between games. Okay. Then, as mentioned above, it struck me that almost half of the kids on the pairing sheet had "Waterford" next to their name. Hmmm, alright. I learned throughout the day in conversation with other parents that Waterford has a professional chess coach on staff and all their first graders take chess as part of their curriculum and have the option of joining the chess team. I think that's wonderful, but there's no doubt these Waterford kids have a real leg-up on the competition. Honestly, my inner underdog, rooted for Harper twice as much against the Waterford kids. But sadly, she did lose her third game, promptly asking me if she could still win a trophy. I let her know, again, the trophy wasn't the most important thing but she could probably still win one if she won her last two games.
Harper was paired with another Waterford boy in round 4. It was a good game, both kids seemed serious and engaged, which I'm learning is the default look in chess. Ultimately though the boy won and Harper looked so distraught that my heart leaped out of my chest. As she emerged from the room, she collapsed against me in a puddle of tears. "Does this mean I can't win a trophy?" "No, my love, probably not. But I am so proud of you and you are learning so much. This is your first tournament and there will be trophies in your future." A learning lesson indeed.
By this point, there was no other word for the kids in the waiting room except wild. The once reserved readers were running, dancing, and jumping from windowsills led, of course, by Ashton. It was a relief to see the fifth round pairing released so we could finish the day and get going home.
For the third game in a row, Harper was paired with a boy from Waterford. The fifth round should theoretically be the most evenly matched of the day as the pairings get more and more refined. Once again, the games looked intense, all those small, serious faces turned downward. The kids were getting wiggly at this point and many stood hovering over their boards. Camaraderie had formed between the parents by the end of the day and we were chattering and bonding in our holding cell. I won't pretend to have any idea what is happening on the board, but when Harper's face lit up at the end, I knew she had won. I was glad to still see her exuberance even though there was no trophy at stake.
Harper was delighted at the awards ceremony when she learned that even kids who didn't win trophies were still given medals. I know "participation" awards are highly controversial and subject to much derision, but I've never really had strong feelings one way or the other. This day though I was a fan and grateful to see Harper looking at her medal with shining eyes and unbridled pride. She still wants a trophy, she still has something to strive for, but she was brave, she tried her hardest, she won two games, and she has a tangible thing to remember this experience.
Today is the Wednesday morning after the chess tournament. It's also daylight savings week so we'll be heading out shortly for chess club in pitch blackness. But today Harper gets to wear her medal and take a picture for the Dilworth yearbook, and she could not be more excited. She also thinks after everything she learned Saturday, she's going to play better at chess club today, and isn't that really the whole point?
For my final words I want to give a big, heartfelt thanks to our Dilworth parent volunteer, Kellen McAffee, for fostering this interest in our kids and exposing them to something new. We don't have a chess coach like Waterford, but Kellen wakes up every Wednesday morning at the crack of dawn to teach our public school kids chess, and for that, sir, I salute you.
