Youth Fair ...

It's no secret this boy likes chess.  Local opportunities for homeschoolers to play and learn chess are few and far between compared to just about every other youth activity out there.  That's why I sign him up for every local event he can attend.  Still, that only amounts to 6 events for the school year so far.  Can you imagine being a soccer player and only getting together with your team six times in the last 7 months to play together. 

 This weekend was the Whatcom Youth Fair and the Scientist rocked the chess division.  Out of the 14 participants, he earned the most points for first place overall.

 He brought home a couple nice ribbons, another travel chess set and a very advanced book on chess strategy. 

 Here he is with his chess teacher for the two days of youth fair.  Mr. Neff also coaches him in the off season. 

 Mr. Neff is the youngest of the Neff Family.  He and his siblings were homeschooled in Whatcom county 20 plus years ago.  His oldest brother organizes the Lynden Theresa Tromp Tournament.   His second brother runs Chess4Life in the Seattle area and his third brother runs the ChessHouse.com store out of Lynden.  Mr. Neff coaches chess students in the public schools during the school chess season.


If you're still reading this, you won't mind if I tell you that 2 weeks ago,  the Scientist won $200.00 in the 45th annual Theresa Tromp tournament for a 7th place finish.  He received his check along with a letter of congratulations from the Lynden Mayor.  He used part of the money to buy a very nice chess set.  The teddy bear set.

Love that boy!