There are three concentric circles of chess games in the story: the games Waverly plays with actual opponents, the game she metaphorically plays with her mother, and, at the center, the game she plays with herself. Chess acts as a symbol of strenuous relationships, illustrating Waverly’s challenging connection to the game, her mother, and herself.

Waverly’s opponents dismiss her because of her age and gender. Her brothers do not want to play with her, the man in the park refers to her as a “doll” (Paragraph 34), suggesting she cannot properly play the game, and her first opponent in a chess tournament “[wrinkles] his nose” at her (Paragraph 40). Even to play the game, Waverly must strongarm her way in.

Her mother’s unsolicited advice and intrusive hovering annoy and challenge Waverly. When Waverly at first denies wanting to play in tournaments, her mother insists she play to challenge herself; when Waverly complains about her noisy brothers, her mother banishes them to the living room; when Waverly is interviewed about her status as a national chess champion, her mother gives instructions about how she should pose and dress. Waverly’s frustrations with her mother crescendo into an imagined chess game with her in which Waverly tries to hold her own despite her mother’s “triumphant smile” (Paragraph 77).