Waverly Jong begins her section of the book by recounting the events that led to her career as a chess prodigy. She recalls learning the game of chess by first reading about it and playing with her brothers, then moving to the park where an old man teaches her the etiquette of the game. Soon, her mother has exempt her from chores so that she can practice and compete with her newfound skill. Opponent after opponent, Waverly wins the chess games and becomes smarter with every tournament she plays. She concludes her chapter with an anecdote about her mother showing her off one day at the market. Waverly becomes angry with her mother's behavior and says that she is sometimes embarrassed to be her daughter and they get into an argument. Waverly copes with the situation by running away. When she returns home, she is given the "cold shoulder" and ignored by her family. She retreats to her room where her mind is once again absorbed in the strategy of a chess game.
Though Waverly's early talent in the game of chess strained her relationship with her family, she did aquire many lessons that can be applied to the game of life. For instance, while practicing one day, Waverly says to her mother, "'Ma, it's not how many pieces you lose,' I said. 'Sometimes you need to lose pieces to get ahead.'" Making sacrifices is a necessary part of growing as a person and reaching your goals. Olympic swimmer Dara Torres has shown her ability to "lose some of the pieces" in order to reach the goal of becoming a better person and a better mother when she took time off of her rising swimming career to raise her daughter Tessa.
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