Nationals

Some of the more serious chess players should definitely consider going to the national chess tournament in Nashville Tennessee. Check out the USChesswww.uschess.org website. Click on "Play" along the top, then select "national events", then "National Elementary Championship".

Does it seem a little ridiculous? I thought so, too, when my daughter was in second grade and wanted to go to Nationals. Here I thought I'd found a fairly inexpensive sport for her to be involved in and now she wants to fly to Little Rock and stay in a hotel for 3 days? So I told her that nationals were for only the very best. "Like who?" she asked. "Like maybe the person who wins this tournament" I replied. Five games later she came back and asked "Now can I go?" Well, I had to say yes. But we had such a good time that every year after that we went to a National Championship Tournament - Tucson, Knoxville, Terra Haute, Sioux Falls, Peoria, Milwaukee(2), Nashville(2), Columbus (2), and Ft. Lauderdale. Several of the times she was part of a team, but we went every year to at least one.
But it was a very good decision - a great bonding experience. An experience that gave her confidence.
    Some parents hesitated to take their child out of school for an extended period. Their classmates will never remember what they did that Thu-Fri at school, but your child will remember this experience for a lifetime. I highly recommend it.