Saturday was a big day for both Isaac and Job. John took them to their first tournament of the year. This tournament was a state qualifying tournament. That means the kids who won 3 games qualify to go to the state chess tournament. They play five games - no elimination and after each round their scores are adjusted. The tournament check in was 8:15 to 8:45 and the trophies would be handed out at 4:30. This is an all day thing. John brought both boys and left Lona and I at home. I'm no good at chess. He had a little pep talk with the boys. Told them what their goals were for this tournament. They had been practicing a little bit but not like last year. They were a little rusty. Both Job and Isaac won their first game. Wow. Then Isaac won his 2nd game and Job lost his 2nd game. Then Isaac was up against the first place kid for the third game. It was a tough game. The kid was rated a lot higher than Isaac, but Isaac won! wow! Job also won his 3rd game. So now Isaac had three points and Job had 2 points. They get a point for each win and 1/2 a point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. I showed up during the fourth game. Isaac won and so did Job. Job came out with this little smile on his face and walked up to me. He put his hands by his mouth and in this little excited voice said, "I won." Almost as if he was surprised. It was so cute. Now Isaac had 4 points and Job had 3 points. A little play time while they compute scores for the next round so John and the kids go outside to play. Final round. Isaac is playing for either 1st or 5th place. Job is playing for a trophy place as well. Isaac came out first. His chest was puffed out and he was trying hard not to smile. Yes, he took first place in the tournament for his age group (4th and 5th graders: 62 kids). Job came out happy as well. He drew, which means that he received a 7th place trophy! At the end of the tournament, Isaac had 5 points and Job had 3 1/2 points. Both qualify to go to State. Both boys exceeded John's expectation for this tournament. Their team won 4th place trophy. They had 18 1/2 points for the team total. They take the points of the top five kids of the team and add them up. Job and Isaac contributed 8 1/2 points together to the team. We are proud of them. Chess is such a thinking strategy game. It is totally individual. There are only three outcomes to each game, win, lose or draw. Such is life as well. Lona has decided to join the chess club and she wants to be in the next chess tournament. That means a free Saturday for me! John understands this so much better. I did learn that not only are your scores considered but also the scores of all your opponents considered in how to place. If you win and all your opponents win their other games then you have a higher rating then if your opponents lose their games. That is how they determine a tie breaker. Both kids received the trophies that they did because of tie breaker computations. It is amazing all the calculation that goes on with a chess tournament.