What is the significance of the way Amy Tan decided to organize the events in "The Rules of the Game"?

I think that when we consider the structure of this
excellent short story we need to focus on two elements that Tan uses to link the
structure in with her overall purpose of writing. Firstly, it is important to note the
way that the conflict between Waverly and her mother escalates throughout the story,
starting off as a small conflict about how Waverly exerts her power to get a small bag
of plums and ending up in a serious, full-blown conflict between them when Waverly
confronts her about the pride she takes in her chess
playing:

I
knew it was a mistake to say anything more, but I heard my voice speaking. "Why do you
have to usme to show off? If you want to show off, then why don't you learn to play
chess?"

Thus we are presented
structurally with a series of events that serve to notch up the tension each time,
before we arrive at the final conflict betwen
them.

Secondly, it is important to note how chess is used
as a motif structurally in the narrative. Having introduced it as a topic of conflict
between Waverly and her mother, the story ends with a cataclysmic chess match between
them in Waverly's imagination:

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In my head, I saw a chessboard with sixty-four
black and white squares. Opposite me was my opponent, two angry black slits. She wore a
triumphant smile. "Strongest wind cannot be seen," she
said.

The way that the story
culminates in this mystical chess game supports and confirms the way that chess is
viewed as a much bigger and wider "game" that Waverly still needs to learn the rules of.
The final sentence leaves us with Waverly pondering her next move in the "game" that is
the conflict between her and her mother.