Content Warning: This section refers to murder, stalking, and psychological manipulation.

Chess is a major motif in the book and a constant feature in Keera’s life. Her relationship with chess is primarily wrapped up in her complicated relationship with her father, Patsy. For most of the novel, Keera only plays chess online with an anonymous opponent, the Dark Knight. As she and her father grow closer, working on the case together, she eventually realizes that Patsy is the Dark Knight and is seeking a connection with her through their shared passion and history with chess. Still unable to completely trust their new relationship, Keera continues to play Patsy online, not revealing that she knows he is the Dark Knight. However, at the end of the novel, when Keera and her father have reconnected, Keera’s willingness to be close to her father again is represented by the shift from playing him online to going to his house to play the final move in person. They immediately begin a new game and, with it, a new stage in their relationship. As Keera tells her father, “Playing chess was never about winning or losing, Dad. It still isn’t. I just wanted to spend time with you.