Saturday Night.....

.....chess lessons for Caleb!   He is so excited to finally be learning the real moves and rules of the game.  Over the past few years he has just been satisfied moving any piece to any position on the board.   Now if we can just keep Noah's mouth shut during Caleb's first real game.

Saturday Summary in Photos

Caleb's first soccer game of the season!

Noah's first chess tournament of the season! Win, loss, win, tie...great outing!

I might need to have another baby just to carry the rest of our stuff for the day!

Dinner with friends at Greasewood Flat! Always a good time...

Governor's Cup 2011

A little late, however.....This year, Noah again qualified for the Chess State Championship. Another LONG weekend, 5 rounds on Saturday and 3 on Sunday, of nothing but chess. Who could think of anything more fun to do? Well, maybe Dad could, he played golf on Saturday....and then Mom stayed home and did laundry and grocery shopped on Sunday. Yay for Moms fun! Late that Sunday afternoon, I also got to take Noah to a birthday party at Castles and Coasters....sort of a road-side carnival on steroids. Looked like lots of fun for a seven year old boy and apparently, he rode EVERY ride. Including the upside down roller coaster. When did he get so old?

Back to chess, Noah did fabulous. Against some very tough competition he racked up a total of 4 points and came home with his first chess trophy. He also won a raffle drawing and now has his own score book. That's right. Chess is a sport and there is a score book. 10+ years of playing competitive volleyball and I couldn't tell you the first thing about keeping a score book. One year of watching my son play chess and I can keep score with my eyes closed. (okay, not really. Noah has to tell me the point values still) Funny how priorities change in life.

First Chess Tournament of 2011

Saturday was Noah's first chess tournament of the year. He was so nervous as we were pulling into the parking lot, he said he wanted to puke! Luckily it was close to our house and we arrived 30 minutes early and had plenty of time to chose our spot for the day and get him to his first match. No added stress of running late and getting lost as we have experienced in the past. Here he is so excited for round #1.

Four rounds. He finished the day 2-2. The weather turned out not so perfect. Caleb and I sat in the cold (67 degrees) rain for about 30 minutes after lunch and spent the last hour and a half of the tournament sitting in the car watching a movie. Here is what Noah's chess coach had to say about him in his post tournament email....

In the Mirage "K-3 Under 600" Section, Team Veteran Noah Selter won two and lost two with his attacking style controlling the tempo of every game. Coach Woody considers this an off score for Noah, as he has racked at least 2 match points in all of his outings so far. To my knowledge, Noah didn't lose any games where he had a lead after 20 moves - and consistency for him during games was an issue last semester.

"The big idea now is to get better play out of our first ten moves, and we'll certainly push a few of our lessons in this direction." comments the Coach. "Once we have a lead, chess becomes more enjoyable. So we're going for more leads starting this Wednesday, and focusing on early development of the 'crybaby pieces', the Knights and Bishops, which along with control over the center of the chessboard wins 81% of all documented games my students have played over the last 10 years."

Noah retains an ASCF rating of 243, second best in class, and he still has more tournament wins than any other player currently at Liberty.

More Chess

Okay, so the scores are in. Noah officially finished 215 out of 242 players. Perhaps he was not quite ready for the state championship. At least he made it. And played all 9 rounds! I get angry when I look at the rankings and see kids who only won one game, ranked significantly higher than Noah, but they took scheduled byes....scoring them up to 2 full points. That is not earned. I get that they shouldn't be penalized for having to take a bye, but we're essentially rewarding them with 1/2 a point. Eric and I are ecstatic when Noah gets a draw and earns that 1/2 point. And here they are just giving these points away. What the heck? Can you tell this makes me angry? I'm a little competitive.

Here are a few pics from this weekends events....

Caleb spent most of his time on his bike.

Here he is popping bubbles with some friends.

Noah S. playing against Noah S. Same team, same name. :)

A partial crowd shot. Just to give you an idea, this was about 1/5 of the people there.

Molly thoroughly enjoyed her time at the tournament...and all the attention. She was hand-fed by our friends' 2 year old twins all weekend. :)

Just before Noah's last match on Sunday.

Waiting to begin the last round.

This is the end. Caleb was WORN OUT! Too much chess.

At the other end of the couch....Noah struggled to keep his eyes open.

State Championship Weekend

This weekend was the Governor's Cup, aka the Chess State Championship. There were 3 student's from Noah's school who qualified, so we were allowed a wild card player for a full team of four players. It was a two day tournament with 9 rounds, no elimination, which means Noah played ALL 9 rounds! Two LONG days of chess for Noah, and time passing for the rest of the fam.
So many stories I don't know where to begin. First off, when I went to sign him up, there was no option for his bracket (K-3, under 600). The only K-3 option was the CHAMP division. These are serious chess players....from chess families....not related to Eric and I. :) All I could think was that Noah is not ready for this. He is an average player in the under 600 section, I can't even imagine him winning one round at the State Championship. But he did it...he won ONE round. WOO-HOO!!!
It started Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m., and Eric and I were running late, as usual. Eric dropped us off near the gates and Noah, Caleb, and I went running in. We found the pairings, Noah's color and board number, headed into the hall and began searching for the board. Holy chaos. The countdown had begun...kids screaming the numbers at the top of their lungs, 25.....24....23......22. Parents scrambling everywhere. And I'm screaming at the top of my lungs, "NOAH! OVER HERE. HERE IS YOUR BOARD." He comes running with his big puppy dog eyes like they are ready to swell with tears at any second. 3.....2........1! He sits down, and they begin. Good start. Calm, cool, and collected. Not so much.
Somewhere in the scrambling we had communicated a meeting point near the basketball goals. Apparently his match was over so quickly, Eric and I had yet to get settled when he first came out and missed him. After about an hour of play, we started to get concerned. I did some laps around the basketball area, Eric went to look in the playing hall. No luck. After several rounds around the campus, and a few trips out to the car, I was on the verge of a major panic attack, tears now swelling in my eyes. I went for one last round around the campus after Eric went back into the hall, and I heard a familiar voice yelling behind me. Eric had found him in the chess hall where the kids whose parents were missing had gathered. And when I say kids, I mean Noah and one other boy. By the way, he lost that round. He lost the second, "tied" the third, lost the fourth, and won by forfeit in the last. Five rounds down, 1.5 points. Good enough for me. Even with the forfeit...a win is a win right?
Eric and I had a great time. Don't get me wrong, it was a long day. But, we had fun reconnecting with some chess families we had met earlier in the season. Caleb also had fun riding his "new" bike, ALL DAY...which used to be Wil's.
On Sunday, Noah had four rounds of chess. First match of the day...A LEGIT WINNER!!! So awesome! He lost the next three. Whatever. It is frustrating. I wish I could do more to help him win. But really, how proud our Eric and I? Noah just picked up chess, this year, and is a decent competitor. He made it to the state championship! I mean, really?!? How awesome is that? He is such a good kid and continues to amaze me by getting thrown into situations, where I would crumble, and he takes them like a champ. Noah, you are a stud! Way to go, on your first ever state championship competition! You have officially competed in more state championships than your mom.....and you are 6!

I'll update with rankings, pictures, and videos tomorrow.

Chess Update

On Saturday, Noah competed in his second chess tournament. This tournament was a "qualifier," meaning that if he could score 2.5 points in 5 rounds of play, he would qualify for the Governor's Cup, aka the Chess State Championship. An pretty lofty task for a new chess player, especially when he scored only 2.5 points in 9 rounds in his first tourney.

But Noah, the ever positive child when it comes to chess was all excitement and all smiles, no matter the situation. Caleb and I met Eric at the tournament after the first two rounds with lunch. Noah had lost his first match and tied the second. He lost the third round, but again came strutting out of the match as if this was the best day of his life. Caleb and I headed home for the afternoon leaving Dad and Noah with only 1/2 of a point.

Much to my surprise, he entered the house a few hours later with the news that he had WON both of his final matches. To say that I was proud would be an understatement. What an amazing kid! He placed 67 out of 123 players.

He is so fun and so gracious to others while playing (as noted by Eric while he watched Noah practice against others in between rounds). I'm so happy he finally found something he has a knack for. Something besides video games that is. ;)

Maybe it was his new shirt that brought him such luck. A special thanks to Aunt Vicki for those! I'm fairly sure Noah would wear them everyday if he could. See the shirt he wore on Saturday below. So cute!

As for now, we will continue to practice for the state championship on April 24 and 25!!!

Chess Tournament

This past weekend was Noah's first "real" chess tournament. We had NO idea what to expect when we signed up, nor if Noah was even ready for actual competition. But after some reassurance from his Coach and seeing Noah's excitement at the thought of playing in the tournament, we signed up! We loaded up in the car around 7:30 Saturday morning and headed north to the Carefree Resort and Villas. We had already decided to make the best of the weekend, especially for Noah, so we began with a stop at Dunkin' Donuts on the way. :)


As soon as we pulled into the parking lot (across the street because the main lot was packed) I knew we were out of our league. Every kid was carrying a personalized case (filled with chess goodies I'm sure), and all the parents were well prepared....unlike us. They had tents and chairs, coolers and snacks, chess boards and more. Oh boy, this whole idea of making the best of it, may be tougher than we thought. We found the posted K-2 Boy's pairings and found Noah's name, who he was playing, and where. Noah was only one of a handful of players who were unrated going into the tournament and his competitor was not one of them. At this point, we entered the hall, found his board, and he and Eric sat to play a practice game. Caleb and I sat off to the side and it was then when the thoughts began. What are we doing? Does he really know how to play chess....like literally following the real rules....no take backs? :) Oh great, he's going to loose, start crying, and ask to go home. When it was time for the round to begin, the parents were ushered outside and so begins the wait. Being the clueless chess parents that we were, we had no idea we would have to leave him alone, so we had not set up a place to meet him. We also had no idea how long it would take. Needless to say, when Noah's game was finished, he came outside, couldn't find us, and immediately started crying. Good Mom and Dad.


After two matches, a stalemate and a loss, we headed out for lunch and then back to the tournament for 2 more rounds. That afternoon, we hung out with Noah's Coach and his girlfriend and just enjoyed the amazing weather. Saturday was a perfect winter day in the desert....temperatures in the mid 70s with bright sunshine and blue skies. In addition to the four official games of chess Noah played that day, he must have played an additional 20 games. We left for the day, with Noah scoring one point. He was so happy and Eric and I couldn't have been more proud. He was 0-2 for the day and had 2 stalemates, which scored him a half point each.


On Sunday, we were much more prepared. The forecast was not looking good, but at least we were prepared with warmer clothes and umbrellas....and chairs. The day was miserable, weather wise, but we had lots of fun with our new friends and Noah continued to amaze us. With three rounds on Sunday, he finished with 1.5 points, a stalemate, a loss, and FINALLY a checkmate! It was the last round of the tournament and because it was freezing cold and pouring rain outside, the parents were allowed in the hall...so we knew he had won before he came over to tell us. I'm pretty sure I was crying. :) He finished 61st out of 88 players in his division scoring a total of 2.5 points!


Noah is such a cool kid. After every round he would strut out of the hall, huge smile on his face, saying, "I did good!" We'd say, "Awesome buddy! Did you win?" He'd say "No. Can we play chess?" He is so sweet, so funny, and quickly becoming an amazing chess player. There is a whole other world out there of chess players and competitions, that was so far removed from my and Eric's world. But thanks to Noah, we have been exposed to a new world, new friends, and new fun. Congrats Noah on playing in your first tournament and doing so well! You make us proud!

Noah deep in thought during his final pairing.

Yay, Noah!