Chess is a prominent motif in the novel, providing the backdrop for Ivan’s narrative as he struggles through a dry period in his career as a chess player. Chess offers a contrast to a social world whose rules remain amorphous and elusive. Where Ivan has spent most of his early life learning the strict rules of chess, he is now forced to spend his adult life learning the equally daunting, but much less defined, ruleset of interpersonal relationships.

Consequently, this motif allows the reader to see each interpersonal relationship as a power game where each party competes to gain the upper hand. Peter drives the importance of maintaining dominance in his dynamic with Naomi while always falling back in his relationship with Sylvia. During a key confrontation between Peter and Ivan, they argue over Peter’s status as the older brother and how much he values proving Ivan wrong.

When Ivan is considering early retirement from chess, he reminds himself how much he yearns to play a beautiful chess game again. Symbolically, this resonates with his relationship with Margaret, which allows Ivan the freedom not to fit the social rules that govern his engagement with, for example, Peter and Sylvia.