Oh how your stories sound familiar. DS is beyond chess obsessed. At the moment he is gunning for me to enter him in a scholastic tournament so he can become "ranked". He is constantly wanting to play our computer chess games. He went through a phase this summer where we had to watch "Searching for Bobby Fisher" on a daily basis...just to see if he could learn any new moves. To be honest, his insatiable drive is making me concerned and giving me a few gray hairs.
We enrolled him in our school's chess club (in lieu of another club we found out about from a summer camp). DS wanted to play with his friends that played last year in Kindergarten. To be honest, it was also easier than driving him to the neighboring town - he just goes into school early. However, he is frustrated with the group. The club will not allow my son to play outside his grade level (1st). Yet, he can beat many adult players. They are covering the basic moves and ds is way beyond that. There are one or two kids that act-out so the class is continually stopped to get them back in line. He really isn't learning anything (for $139 a semester - ouch!). He was extremely disappointed when he learned there was only one tournament (again he will be confined to grade level). He said none of the kids actually want to play him since he always wins. A big part of me wants to ask for my money back. It just isn't going to be a good fit. However, I keep thinking it is just the first month - maybe things will improve.
