Strong child chess players do play in adult tournaments most of the time.
Interesting--I didn't realize this.
Tor'sMama, I wonder if you could find someone to coach your child online for less? It seems to me that the expense to send you and your son to Greece might eclipse the savings from not having to pay for coaching. I also wonder if your local coach is rated highly enough for your son's ability? (mithawk and I have corresponded a bit about this.)
You are probably also facing some of the same questions we are..or the same major question:
What is my ultimate goal when entering my child in chess tournaments? What do I see as the most desirable end result? What does my CHILD want, and how I can accomplish this in the most sane way?
Thank you for your thoughts.
He has been playing and competing since he was four, winning first in the kindergarten unrated category in the Nationals when he was four years, three months after he learned how to play. He took a 10 month break from competing and playing much at age five. He currently loves it, competes locally twice a month, and semi locally (within a few hours) a handful of times a year. I let him compete because he wants to. I don't have any real interest in having a young child compete. My husband loves that my son is good at something at a young age (I think he feels like he never was good at things so having a son who us is exciting to him). So my husband learned to play chess and started a local club and became a tournament director, etc.
Anyway, when his coach approached my husband and son about free lessons and the possibility of going to Greece, my son jumped on it. I am not really as thrilled, some due to the expense IF he qualified in time plus the expense of having to go to extra not so local tournaments this year to play different players (we live in a small town), some due to the fact that I'm afraid my son will eventually feel pressured and stressed and lose the love of the game. he is a perfectionist and can tend to get wrapped up in whether his rating is going up or down. Sigh.
