48 pages • 1 hour read
Check & Mate
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Symbols & Motifs
Chess
For much of the novel, chess is a complex, primarily negative symbol for Mallory. Her enjoyment of it seeps through in some moments, such as her entry into the tournament room when she agrees to attend the charity tournament. She thinks to herself, “The smell in the room is like a childhood memory, made of familiar, simple notes: wood and felt and sweat and stale coffee, the bergamot note of Dad’s aftershave, home, belonging, betrayal, happiness, and—” but she cuts off her thoughts (25). This is because she has chosen to abandon chess, associating it with the pain of her father’s betrayal and everything that came after. Since chess was her father’s favorite sport, and she bonded with him through it, she associates it with him and chooses to avoid it completely. Even when she takes the chess fellowship, it is only out of financial necessity, and she attempts to keep her relationship with chess professional and limited to her required fellowship hours.
Despite her intentions, Mallory finds herself slipping back into her old obsessions with chess and her desire to win. Chess remains a somewhat negative symbol, but it slowly regains the more positive associations it used to have for her. At the Olympics, chess offers her a chance to be part of a community. She feels like she is part of something for the first time in years, and she realizes that although she swore she would not let herself care about chess, she feels happy. She continues to resist the transition of chess into a positive symbol, rejecting Nolan’s suggestion of what it means to her: “’It is a stupid board game, but it’s yours. I see the way you look at the pieces. It’s your world, isn’t it?” (112). In the end, Mallory returns to the world wholeheartedly, and her reconciliation with chess symbolizes her acceptance of her past and her willingness to reopen herself to love.
Additionally, chess represents interpersonal relationships. Mallory draws implicit comparisons between herself and the king piece, and she describes developments in her relationships with others the way one would moves in a game. This win-or-lose approach serves to detach herself from others emotionally and process her internal struggles in a strict, compartmentalized manner.
Money and Financial Concerns
Financial concerns permeate Check & Mate and are a driving factor in many of Mallory’s decisions. Her need to pay the bills is what drives her to finally accept the chess fellowship despite her adamant rejection of it for several weeks. Mallory feels pressed on all sides by financial demands, but she refuses to allow her sisters to worry about money. When Sabrina offers to find another way to get money for her roller derby team, Mallory thinks to herself, “The idea of Sabrina worrying about money is physically painful” (22). Mallory becomes consumed with her worries about paying the bills and making sure her sisters do not have to think about money.
Money is one of the factors that maintains Mallory’s feelings of distance from others. Nolan and Koch are both supported by their winnings, thus unable to understand her experiences as both a working-class individual and a woman. As she is unwilling to express her struggles to others, her turbulent financial situation divides her from those who care for her. Her desire for money turns it into a symbol of self-worth, feeling that if she can obtain enough, she can alleviate her guilt at supposedly ruining her parents’ marriage and causing her family’s economic despair.
Once she starts her fellowship, the chess world provides Mallory with resources to help her family above and beyond what she expected. She had only anticipated the fellowship money, but her continued victories at the tournaments Defne signs her up for bring in even more. When she faces the possibility of competing in the Challenger tournament, she realizes she could win three million dollars to not only pay off the mortgage and buy medications for her mother, but also contribute to her sisters’ college tuition—or her own. This is when financial concerns stop acting as an excuse for Mallory to play chess, and she realizes how much she enjoys being in the community again.
Family Dynamics
Questions and concerns over family dynamics are a consistent motif throughout the novel. Mallory has taken over the responsibility of parenting since her mother’s illness. Her mother tries to push against this, knowing Mallory should not be in that position: “’You know you’re my child, too, right? And you shouldn’t be stuck co-parenting with me?’” (23). Still, Mallory stubbornly insists on continuing her role as caretaker due to her mother’s difficult symptoms.
This dynamic change creates tension for everyone in the family. Mallory is stressed and overwhelmed while also making sacrifices she should not have to. Sabrina is angry with Mallory but struggles to explain that it is because she misses their old relationship, and in response, Mallory is angry with her sister for not understanding how much Mallory is doing for the family. Mallory becomes accustomed to providing support and assigns much of her self-worth to being needed. This is why she is so deeply impacted when her family begins thriving with the income from her fellowship and tournament winnings. She could be relieved that her mother can take over more again and that the family will be alright, but instead she wonders “if while I was gone, my family outgrew its need and its want for me. Wondering what else chess has taken away from me” (173). When Mallory finally breaks down from the stress and the buildup of unresolved emotions, Mrs. Greenleaf recognizes that she must firmly take back her responsibilities as a parent, providing loving support, conversation, and reassurance that she can now care for the household. In doing so, she reasserts their healthier family dynamic.
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