Pushed by the wind, she ascends into the night sky, alone. She rises above the board and floats over houses. As the black pieces get closer, Waverly feels herself getting lighter. Her opponent consists of two angry black slits, marching implacably across the chessboard and sending her white pieces fleeing for cover. Jong, the entire family ignores Waverly, so she trudges to her darkened room and lies down on her bed. For two hours, she huddles on an upturned plastic pail in an alley. One day, mortified by what she perceives as exploitation, Waverly argues with her mother and dashes off. Jong delights in walking down the busy street, boasting that Waverly is her daughter. Waverly is excused from her chores, but there is one task she cannot escape: accompanying her mother to market on Saturdays. Her fame spreads even Life magazine runs an article on her meteoric rise. By her ninth birthday, Waverly is a national chess champion. After her brothers lose interest in the game, Waverly learns complex plays from Lau Po, an old man in the park: She begins to win local tournaments. Waverly took to the game immediately, delighting in its strategy.

Waverly's brother Vincent received a chess set at the Baptist Church Christmas party. The children delight in the sights, sounds, and smells of Chinatown, the sweetness of the pasty red beans, the pungent smell of the herbs doled out by old Li, and the sight of the blood-slippery fish that the butcher guts with one deft slice. Waverly and her two brothers live on Waverly Place in San Francisco's Chinatown. Waverly Jong, the narrator of this section, explains that she was six years old when her mother taught her 'the art of invisible strength,' a strategy for winning arguments and gaining respect from others in games.

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