Any chess parents around?

[sunnydayinmay]

Always reading threads about music and gymnastics. Anyone else spending several hours (days...) in a school hall, waiting for their child to emerge from a distant room, clutching a score sheet?

Yup. Only a couple of competitions a term, as dd isn't that good. I like it - chair, tuck shop, quiet reading time. Infinitely better than ballet, where I have to sit on the floor and there's no wifi.

Read a whole newspaper today. This is a 2 day though. See how we feel this time tomorrow!

Chess parent here, both myself and my husband cant play. She only started half term last term and couple of weeks ago was chosen in her school team. Its only 1hr a week and no more practice so not much hope however she enjoys it(yr3)

Our DSs were chess players at Prep school.

DS1 got to the semi final of the UK chess challenge. Its played with full international chess competition rules, clocks, the lot.

It was insane. Ultra competitive parents replaying games with their children having noted each move and coaching intensely in the breaks. Lots of 'gamesmanship' too which parents teach their kids to do to put other layers off

I didn't mind but really once you get to a certain level you are either Grandmaster material or you aren't. Several girls in his school were in the GB junior chess team. Its OK at school level playing intra or inter school with teachers driving a mini bus but personally dragging them off to some hall the other side of the country at an ungodly hour to spend the day with a bunch of people who are not the kind of people you would want to socialise with - no thanks.

My DC is a very strong chessplayer and on some occasions we spent a week waiting in the hall in a different part of the country. I guess it's like with everything else, if your child is seriously into gymnastics, music etc it requires a lot of parent time and assistance. Again like with every individual sport there are competitive parents. I thought it's pretty normal human behaviour. Regarding chess parents they are all different personalities some can play chess some can't, some are more chatty than the other etc. Most of best chess players attend very selective London schools: Colet court, Westminster under, Hampton, Kings college Wimbledon