Excelling at any age

In between her swimming lessons and cheerleading activities, Andrea Bueno began winning karate tournaments at age 5.

Now, at the ripe ol’ age of 7, she’s on her way to tackling bigger, tougher and older opponents and minds – on a chessboard. And she’s winning.

The petite and energetic second-grader at Blanton Elementary School recently earned fourth place in the eighth annual Dr. Frederick Todd Invitational Chess Classic. She was one of the more than 50 students, all of them older than her, who competed on the University of North Texas Dallas campus.

She was the only second-grader to attend – a fact that took organizers aback at first.

“We had expected only middle schools to attend,” said James Kemp, director of the Young Art Institute in Education, a sponsor of the chess tournament. “We didn’t have the heart to turn her away.”

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