'May The Best Player Win,' A Chess Book For Young Readers (Review)

Gender inequity in chess has increasingly gained international attention, and several federations, clubs, and players are working to resolve this problem. Tackling gender bias in chess is an important goal for many but particularly for the author of a new novel for young readers who brings to life how upsetting bullying and inequitable treatment can be.

The Theme: Empowerment of Girl Chess Players

Empowerment of girl chess players is the unifying theme of the book. May the Best Player Win by Kyla Zhao is a heartwarming story about how middle school students confront such mistreatment and gender bias.

It is written from the point of view of May Li, a 12-year-old seventh grader who is playing in her first state championship as the book opens. She wins the Judit Polgar Award for a girl who plays exceptionally, and as the only girl who placed in the top 10, she was the clear winner.

The Plot: A Squabble Becomes A Challenge

However, at Lingard Middle School where May attends with her best friend Becca, the two are the only girl members of the chess club. The title takes its prominence from a squabble between May and Ralph, a fellow student, when each challenges the other. It’s more than a challenge because Ralph thinks that girls cannot play chess as well as boys. He even discounts the Polgar Award as meaningless and says that May received it only “because she’s a girl.” Ralph goes even further, “It’s a well-known fact that guys are better at chess.”

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A post shared by Kyla Jiayi Zhao (@kylajzhao).

Zhao posts on Instagram about her interview with the ABC affiliate in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.

Nevertheless, May is undeterred and wants to lead the school team to a national tournament as its captain and as board one—not Ralph or any other boy. The club conducts a round-robin to determine its leader. To Ralph, she issues a warning: “I know I can beat you on skill.”

I know I can beat you on skill.
—May to Ralph

The Goal: Selection As Team Captain And Board One

To prepare for her club’s playoff, she renews her interest in private lessons with her coach, Mr. Wang, whom she respects immensely. He was China’s team captain and board-one player for five consecutive Chess Olympiads as well as the national champion three times. From him, she learns about prominent players and their brilliant games. May is inspired by “great masters like Paul Morphy and [GM] Mikhail Tal, who were famous for their attacking styles.” She is amazed when her coach shows her GM Bobby Fischer’s Game of the Century, and her “biggest dream is to play a queen sacrifice as cool as Fischer’s one day.”

Although May has been playing chess since she was six years old, she is still learning. The first time she heard the term “round-robin,” she thought it referred to a fat bird. Although detailed chess knowledge isn’t necessary to enjoy the book, some familiarity is helpful to understand the significance of Chess Olympiads, the importance of board one, and the stress of competitive play.

May is like many chess players; her favorite defense is the Sicilian. She strives ‘’to play chess out of love for the game.” She loves “experimenting with different ways” to arrange pieces “into daring combinations” and enjoys “taking risks and creating fireworks on the board.”

In addition to chess lessons several times a week and club meetings on Fridays, she plays “blindfold” chess during school when attending student assembly. As an only child, she also plays against herself as well as “against people online.” (Let’s hope it’s on Chess.com where the author has the account @avocuddies08.)

However, May’s confidence wanes, and she slips into playing not to win but to not lose. She even considers asking her best friend Becca to let her win their game in the round-robin. The drama of the tournament hits a peak when May’s archrival Ralph is more interested in her game that is underway than his own and blunders into a stalemate. Then Becca makes an intentional blunder to allow May to win, but she refuses to accept.

The Outcome: Who Wins? Ralph, Another Boy, or May?

May succeeds in her quest to prove her chess skills to the other school club members and Mr. Karlsen, the school coach. In the final game, she outplays Ralph. She conjures a smothered mate in an armageddon game with her archrival to determine the club’s best player, and he resigns good-naturedly when he recognizes the pattern. Mr. Karlsen selects her as board one but lets the students pick their captain. They all vote unanimously for May.

The Unifying Elements: Chess And Chinese Cuisine

Chess is the glue that holds all of the elements of the story together, and over-the-board play advances the narrative to its end. Also helping the narrative to flow seamlessly are chess terms. Each chapter title is a term that comes to life in it—however, “fortress” is the term for the final chapter; perhaps checkmate would be more appropriate.

Some chess references are forced such as Trader Joe’s giving away food samples like en prise chess pieces. Others, such as May taking challenges one step at a time “like a passed pawn,” are more relevant.

Much like many of us who look for technical chess errors in photos of the game, May and her friends “watch movies with chess and make fun of how they get the board setups wrong.” She calls out the school photographer for setting pieces incorrectly during a photo shoot by saying: “Both kings are under attack here, which is against the rules of chess.” The only technical chess error in the book that I observed is when May moves a pawn to e4 (light square) to block her opponent’s bishop on e5 (dark square); however, although the bishop blocks the pawn from advancing, a pawn cannot block a bishop on an opposite-colored square.

Both kings are under attack here, which is against the rules of chess.
—May to school photographer

Chinese cuisine is also used to connect sections of the book. On the dinner table for the Mid-Autumn Festival is Cantonese fish congee that her mother has made and youtiao (dough fritters) that her father has prepared with taro and peeled pomelo. May’s gift to her chess coach is mooncake, “lotus paste with a single salted duck egg in the center.” Her favorite dish is braised pork belly that her mother prepares, and how May mentions her dad’s sweet and sour squirrel fish helps to embellish the story.

The Team: Author Kyla Zhao And Her Publisher

Although Zhao hadn’t previously written a novel for young readers, she’s been embarked on a career of writing novels starring women and girls of color since graduating from Stanford University in 2021. 

Zhao said she was taught how to play chess by her grandfather when she was six. Similarly, the lead character learns at the same age. Zhou said the book “stars the kind of characters I couldn’t find in my own childhood reading experiences.” On Instagram, she writes that the book is “inspired by a personal decision I made in my teens, and I wrote it as the story I wish I had when I was younger.” A writer who definitely loves puns, Zhao clearly knows the game of chess as well as the drama of tournaments.

I wrote it as the story I wish I had when I was younger.
—Kyla Zhao

When the book was published in September, Zhao said that she had worked on it for four years. She adds, “I spent years rewriting and polishing it before this story finally felt ready to be shared with others.”

Putnam Young Readers assembled a talented group of team editors, designers, and other professionals to bring this book to life. One noteworthy talent is the interior designer who created chess motifs for each chapter.

The Future: Encouraging The Next Generation Of Players

The latest news media to criticize chess as “overwhelmingly male-dominated at the highest levels” is The Washington Post. It recently reported that “both new and longtime female players have faced demeaning comments, bullying and even sexual harassment and assault." This book may help to encourage a new generation of chess players, particularly young girls, as they confront the social challenges of gender bias.