My DS6 does not handle losing. He plays chess very well, and he will be completing in a tournament soon so we've been practising. Whenever he loses, or can foresee himself losing, he doesn't want to play anymore and refuses to shake his opponent's hand. I try to explain that he is playing against adults who can play well (and, honestly, he gives my husband and I a good game), so he clearly plays well, too; and just because he doesn't win every game doesn't mean that he isn't good. Now he doesn't want to compete at the tournament because he doesn't want to lose in front of others.
My son only reacts this way to games he plays well. Basketball took him two years to master and he had great determination to do so; so he had no problems handling losses with that.
Is this something that he will grow out of? Or can he learn to be gracious?
