Chess And Life In Amy Tan's Rules Of The Game

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Recommended: The Rules of the Game | Amy Tan

Amy Tan’s short story, Rules of the Game, is open to many different interpretations, the most evident being the idea that life is just a big game of chess. In chess, you have to stop and strategically contemplate your next move which is also exactly what you would do in tough situations you may encounter during life. There was a point in the story where Waverly was at a difficult time, and she just “closed her eyes and pondered her next move”. This specific comparison (and basically the entire, underlying theme of this short story) between chess and life represents Waverly’s conflicts between her and her mother.
As a new national chess prodigy before the age of 10, Waverly and Lindo were walking through the shops of San Francisco’s Chinatown,

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