Check & Mate

Mallory, her mother, and her sisters travel to Italy for the World Championship a little over a month later with Oz and Defne, who has forgiven Mallory. Mallory realizes how much she needs her family, just as much as they have needed her. They get settled into the hotel, but Mallory struggles to sleep, so she goes to the hotel pool. She pushes aside thoughts and regrets about Nolan and swims. When she leaves the pool, she thinks she sees the silhouette of someone in another room watching her, but the image is gone when she looks again.

Mallory, Defne, and Oz start training in an alcove room set up off the courtyard where the match will take place. The room has a picture of Nolan’s grandfather at his 1978 World Championship match. Mallory asks Defne, who trained with him, what he was like, comparing the description from Defne with what she knows of Nolan and once again feeling regret.

They spend a couple of days locked in the room training before Defne pushes Mallory to rest for the night and next morning before all the press events that afternoon. The concierge informs Mallory that her friend has arrived and is in her room.