A Little Game 2014

Max, a bright 10-year-old girl living in Manhattan, finds herself navigating two very different worlds. Her move from a local public school to a rigorous private school on the Upper West Side pushes her into a new daily routine, with her mother Sarah working longer hours to manage the change. To get there, Max hops the subway each day, balancing the pull of home in lower Manhattan with the promise of a more challenging academic path.

One afternoon, after joining the chess team at school, Max blasts through a detour through Washington Square Park and witnesses groups of people playing the game with focus and ease. The next day, she tracks down Norman, a retired fellow New Yorker she had noticed with a chessboard, and asks him to teach her. Norman is cautious at first, unsure if Max’s enthusiasm can translate into real skill, but her unwavering determination slowly wins him over.

Over many days, Norman hands her small, seemingly simple tasks that might seem meaningless at first glance. He teaches through careful comparisons between the pieces and people in the city, showing Max that chess mirrors life in surprising ways. He explains that a pawn, like a small, cautious child, needs friends by its side to move forward and eventually can become a queen with patience and support. He emphasizes that a chess player must adapt to every turn, just as life constantly reshapes plans with each move.

As the lessons unfold, Norman describes the rook as moving in straight lines—much like a procession through a church aisle—while the knight’s leaps embody different possibilities. With each piece understood, Norman begins guiding Max through focused practice: first a handful of moves, then a larger sequence, building her confidence and strategic thinking. She quietly tests herself against her school rival, a challenge that makes Norman uneasy, yet Max insists it’s time for her to decide her own path.

The story reaches its quiet, powerful hinge on timing. Norman’s final lesson ties a chess match to the rhythms of life, reminding Max that change is inevitable and to “enjoy it while it’s here.” She studies the park’s energy, letting the surrounding people and sheer street life inform her choices as she positions herself to win. In a moment that feels both decisive and reflective, she sees a three-move finish but chooses to forfeit the game, opting to return to her former life and school with a transformed sense of purpose.

The tale closes with a simple, resonant metaphor about growth: sometimes an old pizza place closes so that a new one can open. It’s a quiet reminder that endings can clear the way for fresh beginnings, a philosophy that Max carries with her as she steps back into her daily life, now tempered by the chess wisdom she has earned and the deeper understanding that life, like the game, is about improvisation, resilience, and the courage to choose one’s own path.