Checkmate!

Today we went on a road trip.  Destination?  Terre Haute, IN, for the Indiana State Chess Finals.  Hayden plays on Edgelea's chess team and about a month ago his team went to the Regionals in Indianapolis and there they qualified for the State Finals.  Today was a little hard on the team. The competition draws the best players in the entire state.  Because all of the team members are 5th graders except Hayden, the Edgelea team plays in the 6th grade & under division.  So today he (an 8 year old 2nd grader) was playing against kids who were in 4th, 5th and 6th graders!  He played 3 of the 5 rounds, but lost all his games today.  His ego took a little beating, but he recovered quickly. He's looking forward to playing our next door neighbor (and beating him!)

Here's a slideshow of today's events.