I Am A Master At Chess Essay

The story “The Rules of the Game” shows how Waverly’s ability to play Chess well increases her mother’s expectations throughout the story. In the beginning Waverly wanted to play chess so much so that she was begging her brothers to let her play. Waverly says “ Let me! Let me!’ I begged

“My mother would proudly walk with me, visiting many shops, buying very little. “ This my daughter Waverly Jong,” she said to whoever looked her way. One day after we left a shop I said under my breath, “ I wish you wouldn’t do that , telling everybody I’m your daughter.” My mother stopped walking..... “Aiii-ya. So shame be with mother?” She grasped my hand even tighter as she glared at me. I looked down. “It’s not that, just so obvious. It’s so embarrassing.”... If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess?” (Tan 41).

Waverly knew her mom “would not let me play among strangers”. She used reverse psychology to control her mother, by speaking in a small quiet voice, saying she did not want to go. Mrs. Jong then told Waverly she must play. Waverly got what she wanted without her mother realizing she had been manipulated by her daughter. The theme of the struggle of control became much more evident as Waverly realized how to trick her mother to regain power over Mrs. Jong and to do as she pleased. Another example demonstrating this theme, was Mrs. Jong’s inability to allow her daughter to use the techniques Waverly chose in playing chess. After a chess tournament won by Waverly, Mrs. Jong gave no sign of approval and said, “…Next time win more and lose less” regarding the chess pieces Waverly took from her opponent. Waverly did try to explain to her mother that part of the game was “losing pieces to get ahead”; her mother, although, did not accept that. Mrs. Jong hardly comprehended the rules of chess, but she nevertheless wanted to prove to her daughter that she was still fully in control and had all the power to tell Waverly how she should play the game. Regardless of all the games her daughter had won, Mrs. Jong tried to maintain control over the simplest aspects of the chess game to exert her authority

In Amy Tans “Rules of the Game” a first generation adolescent becomes fascinated with the game of chess and uses its rules as a strategy for life while growing up and away from her Chinese culture. This short story illustrates the struggle of growing up is especially difficult when in a culture different from ones parents.

Lastly, being a chess player involves being strategic. While Waverly is versing an American man, she says, “ ‘Blow from the South’, it murmured. ‘The wind leaves no trail’. I saw a clear path…lean away from the wind so he is easier to knock down’ ” (Tan 4). Waverly is using methods taught by Lau Po to knock down her opponents knight. She imagines that the wind is blowing, knocking down the knight. This relates to the title because Lau Po is teaching Waverly his rules of winning a chess tournament. Therefore, chess is a game that involves many rules and strategies to be successful.

Your brain against mine. Your woodcraft against mine. Your strength and stamina against mine. Outdoor chess! And the stake is not without value, eh?”

Therefore, my enthusiasm for the game helped me be successful. Thirdly, passion causes me to put chess games in front of other things in life. For example, if I am playing in a chess match up that is really important to me, I will focus on that game more than normal, instead of other things like getting on Facebook, and other social media websites, and sadly sometimes even homework gets abandoned at times if I am playing someone with a high rating or just someone who has beaten me before. Therefore, a friend of mine once had a 1717 rating, which is really good, I ignored Facebook notifications on my phone that were constantly yearning for my attention. I ended up winning that game and as of now, that is the highest rated player I have ever beaten.

This picture shows what the different type of games played during this time included that includes actual game boards and pieces played

Everyday athletes risk their lives to play the sport they love. From football players, to boxers, to soccer players; no matter the sport, they risk their lives to play the game. One more play, one more head butt, one more defense; they all say. Or my head hurts but I am not going to tell my coach, because I am a dedicated player. Or it is just my second concussion, I have one concussion to spare. Throw me in the game. Wrong. A dedicated player should care about their well being; should care about their brain health. A dedicated player should care about their life and how their decisions to “go back into the game” has impacted their families immensely. Scientists, pathologists and doctors from all over the world question whether or not it is

“Attention, soldiers of the Continental army, the patriots of our colonies!” George Washington shouted, drawing attention to himself as he stood. The whispers along with mumbles stopped, every person bringing their attention to the general as he stood from top to bottom as well as proud. “I will explain quickly what the plan of action is before I separate you. One through five-thousand, you will be going with Lafayette, blocking their escape from Yorktown, waiting in the Chesapeake Bay! Alexander, I believe you had something to say to our people of the colonies?”

Wanting in on the fun, Waverly begged her brothers all the time to let her try... and usually the answer was no. But when she offered Life Savors as replacements for the buttons that filled in for the missing pieces, they gave in. After learning the basic rules of the game from Vincent and playing a few easy games, Waverly started going to the Chinatown library and reading all the more specific rules, studying each chess piece to understand the power each one had in the game, good tactics to use, and looking up the big words she did not understand in the dictionary. Waverly also started playing chess with an old man who sits at the tables at her park. She lost a lot of games at first, but after learning even more useful tactics from the old man, Waverly started to win games.

    Have you ever felt like you loss but since you did, you wanted to strive for better? Determination is what drives us to success, so without it what would we be able to do? Failure causes determination for us to win. If we fail, should we give up? No, we shouldn’t, we should get up and keep fighting and trying to win and succeed. LeBron and his friends failed, but they had determination to win the National Championship. LeBron and his best friends learned about life from the game of basketball: their losses from their basketball games taught them to become stronger and better as a basketball player and a better person outside of basketball.

After the lessons, it pulled out a chess game with the figures in ivory, which he kept from his childhood. Then, he teaches Jacob, to play.

1.) Mr. White approaches the game of chess as taking risks as he plays with his son. This reveals about Mr. White’s personality that he is a risk taker and doesn’t look at the outcome of the risks. 2.) This might be a foreshadowing clue because what Sergeant-Major Morris is trying to tell Mr. White is that he should be happy with what he has or if not something bad might happen.

I had just turned ten when my mom first took me to the Salisbury Chess Club. The dilapidated Sage Diner dressed as if it were in the 50s (Absolute), I was immediately enamored by the chess pieces. Soon, I established a reputation for myself as a capricious, impatient tactician able to beat all but the most experienced players. I played with one of the better players, Phil (Appositive), almost every week. Through those games, I learned many values, like patience and carefulness, that not only apply to chess but also to life.