Rules of the Game is a good short story by Amy Tan. It is about a girl named Wave-ly Jong and how she became a chess master. It is an interesting short story and I hop
One day her brother won a chessboard at the secret Santa at the church. They soon found out that it was missing two pieces so the boys used buttons instead. She would plead her brothers to let her play. One day the boys gave in and let her play. She decided to use her lifesavers instead of the buttons so that whoever wins gets to eat it. She soon learned much from her brother and the library books that she had borrowed.
One day, she brought the chess set and asked an old man if he wanted to play. The man was delighted. She lost many lifesavers but learned all the skills that the old man had known. Shortly, she started playing in local tournaments. She had won her first trophy and a new chessboard. when she goes back home, her mom scolded her saying next time to win more and lose less.
At the next tournament, she won again. Her mom told her that this time she lost 8 pieces; last times was 11. She quickly won all the games and in all the divisions. After she won a regional tournament, all the shops wanted to sponsor her in the next tournament. She was even on the front cover of the magazines. After that, her mom decided she didn’t have to do any chores, so her brothers had to do it.
When she practiced, her mom would always be looking at her making a “humph” noise with her nose. She was able to make her brothers sleep in the living room because she could focus when sleeping, and she didn’t have any chores, though there is one that she could never get away from. Going shopping every Saturday with her mom.
At the mall, if she had seen anyone looking in her direction, she would say this is my daughter Wave-ly Jong. one day when they were walking out she said to her mom why do you have to embarrass me like that? Why do you show off like that? Then she took off running. When she got home no one cared about her. She went to her bedroom and laid on the bed “Strongest wind is not seen” echoing through her mind as she closed her eyes and pondered her next move.
This short story is very interesting to me. I think that Wave-ly Jong didn’t deserve what her mom had done to her. I hope you read this story and I hope you like it.