Skip to main content

Why is Waverly good at chess in "Rules of the Game"?

At the beginning of the story, Waverly notes that she learned the art of "invisible strength" from her mother when she was six years old. If Waverly doesn't complain or ask for the salted plums, her mother will buy them. Her silence gives her an advantage.


Her mother compares this strength to the wind. As Waverly is learning chess strategies, she adds, "I discovered that for the whole game one must gather invisible strengths and see the endgame before the game begins." Knowing these strategies beforehand is a distinct advantage. To increase that advantage, it is best to remain "silent." In other words, Waverly must be patient and not let her opponent see her being anxious, worried, or uneasy. She must have a good temperament and a better poker face. The less her opponent knows, the better off she will be:



I also found out why I should never reveal "why" to others. A little knowledge withheld is a great advantage one should store for future use. That is the power of chess. It is a game of secrets in which one must show and never tell.



She loved devising and remembering these "secret" strategies. She would stare at the chess board and play out the moves in her mind. She continued to learn from an old man, Lau Po, by playing chess with him near the playground. Eventually, she became better than him. Waverly liked the idea that her invisible strength was like the wind: unseen by her opponents until it was too late. She begins to understand how invisible strength can be used in other aspects of her life. In the last line of the story, she even proposes to use this strength in dealing with her mother.


Waverly thrives on her success and wants to become even better because she is proud of her individual achievements. When her mother brags about her success, Waverly is embarrassed and feels like that success is somehow being taken away from her.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more