Last winter a boy 3yrs younger beat him at a one day chess tornament. My ds handled it very well, which I was impressed with. He seems to do great with competion unless something seems unfair.
This is a really, really, really good sign. Being unable to handle fair compition at age 9 is are common sign of the damage of being underchallenged at school for 'more' than what the child can tolerate. Younger sibs don't have so much of a problem with this, but gifted oldests and gifted onlies are very vulnerable. Of course more than handling it well in the moment, did it dampen his enthusiasm to play with other kids again?
