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Rules of the Game, a la Shmoop. Any chess players out there?

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And if you merely wage battles between the little horsies and the tiny castles while

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you're soaking in the bathtub... it doesn't count.

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We're talking... chess the way it was intended to be played.

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Arguably the greatest test of a game-player's skill.

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Mano a mano.

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Little horsie a little horsie. Amy Tan, author of Rules of the Game, a chapter

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of her book, The Joy Luck Club...

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...understood how chess could be used as a metaphor to represent life's greatest battles.

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There are many obvious parallels... advancing along a path... encountering and tackling

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obstacles... promoting oneself and gaining power...

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...and, if your destructive little brother is around... the capricious uncertainty of

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our future. She doesn't attempt to hide the fact that,

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while focusing literally on chess in the story...

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...she also wants it to tell us something about her protagonist's journey.

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The question? What is she using chess to represent? Waverly learns from her mother that she must

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work very hard if she ever wants to accomplish anything in life...

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...considering the gender stereotypes and restrictions placed on her by society.

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Is this where the chess metaphor comes into play?

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Chess isn't one of those games you can just pull out of the box and master in a matter

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of minutes.

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It takes years of intense practice and study to become truly skilled at chess...

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...especially if one wishes to become a "Chess Grandmaster."

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It looks really impressive on a business card... trust us.

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So is Tan suggesting that we need to apply the same work ethic in life...

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... that we would apply if we're trying to become a chess wiz?

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Or is it more about the game play itself?

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In the game of chess, you are continually in the line of fire.

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There are pieces that can attack from all sides and at any time, and you always have

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to think four or five moves ahead to avoid capture.

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Waverly realized she needed to approach real life in much the same way.

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She learned that her path would not always be easy, and that if your parents give you

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Lifesavers for Christmas...

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...you need to find some way to make... Lifesaver-ade. Then again, maybe it's simply about rules.

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Chess has some pretty stringent ones... bishops must always move diagonally, rooks backwards

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and forwards or side to side, and knights must always move in an "L" shape... in honor

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of Lancelot, perhaps?

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Waverly is subjected to the world's rules as well. Namely... that men are granted the

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favorable opportunities, while women are expected to take a back seat...

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...and busy themselves in the kitchen. However, while Waverly is content to follow

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all of the rules of the game she loves...

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...she is not so eager and willing to roll over and abide by her culture's antiquated

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guidelines. So what did Chess represent?

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A treatise on the importance of hard work?

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An allegory for dealing with life's many obstacles?

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Or a comparison between the rules of a board game... and the rules of the world?

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And while you're thinking about that... Knight to F3. Check. Your move.

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Now... Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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