The Rules of the Game
Rules
of the Game
This refers to the rules of the game of
chess and the rules of life. In order to win chess or succeed in life, you must
know the rules.
Waverly wants to get better at chess and so she goes to the library to get a book of rules.
Rule #1: Keep captured men in neat rows, as well as tended prisoners.
- Treat all people, including your enemies with respect.
- At Waverly's first tournament her opponent wrinkles his face at her and she does not do anything in return.
Rule #2: Never announce "check" with vanity, lest someone with an unseen sword slit your throat.
- Don't be vain or full of yourself and your ability
- When Waverly wins her first tournament, she says "check" while the wind "roared with laughter" but only in her own head and not out loud.
- Waverly did not like it when her mother bragged about her accomplishments at the Saturday Market.
Rule #3: Never hurl pieces into the sandbox after you have lost a game.
- Don’t be a sore loser
- When Waverly wins her first tournament, she says "check" while the wind "roared with laughter" but only in her own head and not out loud.
Rule #4: You must lose some pieces to win some.
- In life you need to give a little to get a little - compromise/choose your battles
- Waverly chooses not to argue with her mother when her mother refuses to stop standing over her and telling her how to play the game of chess.
- Waverly has no problem with the idea that she lost some pieces in the game in order to win. Her mother does not agree.
- In life (as in chess) a little knowledge withheld is a great advantage one should store for the future.
- When Wavery wanted the salted plumbs, she stayed quite and did not show how much she wanted them. Then she got them.
- In life one must plan ahead, have goals for the future and think about the results (foresight)
- When Waverly wanted to play in the chess tournament, she first thought about how she could accomplish this. She tells her mother a lie (that she didn't want to shame the family) instead of saying that she really wanted to play in the tournament.
- Waverly would stare at her chess board and imagine imaginary battles that she would use another time.