Inspired by her own experience of playing chess competitively as a child, Kyla Zhao pens her first children’s novel tackling sexism in the sport
During the pandemic, Kyla Zhao’s friends at Stanford University picked up online chess. What they didn’t know, however, was that their author-friend had played the sport competitively since the age of six. “I participated in competitive tournaments throughout my primary and secondary school years. I was even fortunate enough to be selected for Singapore’s national junior squad. However, I gradually witnessed more and more female friends drop out of chess, and I also grew increasingly aware of the negative stereotypes attached to female chess players,” says the Gen.T Leader of Tomorrow.
“By the time I reached junior college, I had completely stopped playing competitively. I still played casually online, followed the game as a spectator, interned at the Singapore Chess Federation, and even organised a national tournament for young girls. But it was as though I could only allow myself to enjoy chess if I didn’t have anything at stake personally.”
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Zhao with her latest book, ‘May the Best Player Win’ (Photo: Kyla Zhao)
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This experience inspired her to write her latest book, May The Best Player Win. This marks her third book after The Fraud Squad and Valley Verified, and her first book for children.
Zhao underwent a period of introspection and asked herself why she decided to stop playing chess competitively as a child. Through this process, she uncovered the subtle, underlying sexism that pervaded the world of competitive chess and realised that her experience was in no way unique. This inspired her to write May the Best Player Win, which follows the adventures of May Li, who challenges the boys in her class that girls can play better than them.
“Writing this book turned out to be a very cathartic experience—through my protagonist’s eyes, I rediscovered the magic of chess and was reminded of how I used to love the game so wholeheartedly. For a long time, my memories of chess were clouded by how I had quit, but now, I can focus on the happier times instead.”
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The author, who has a full-time job in a tech company in Silicon Valley, says the book took her four years to complete. She says, “I've found that capturing the authentic voice of a child requires a keen understanding of their perspective. I also wanted to avoid infantilisation and treat young readers with respect. Children are capable of understanding complex emotions and themes, and I believe it’s important to present these ideas in a way that is both engaging and age-appropriate.”
Here, we talk to her about the inspiration behind the book and why writing Asian characters is so important to her.
