Before Kyla Zhao became a talented adult fiction author in Silicon Valley, she was a young chess player in Singapore. Starting at age six, she played throughout her childhood before leaving the chess world after middle school.
In her newly released novel, May the Best Player Win, Zhao brings her childhood experience to life through the story of May, a young girl navigating the pressures of competitive chess while confronting gender bias in the traditionally male-dominated sport.
“It’s a family-friendly version of The Queen’s Gambit,” Zhao said, referring to the hit 2020 Netflix mini-series that sparked a surge of interest in chess. Like the show, Zhao promises that no prior knowledge of chess is needed to enjoy her book.
Zhao’s own return to chess coincided with the release of The Queen’s Gambit. While studying at Stanford during the pandemic, she saw a growing number of friends picking up chess. Zhao began reflecting on her own experience with the game, and why she left it behind.
“I kind of realized one day that none of [my friends] know that I play chess, because I kept that part of myself locked away for so long,” Zhao said. “It got me thinking—what could have happened if I continued to play chess? How far could I have gone?”
But Zhao’s return to the chess world wasn’t just nostalgia—it was a reckoning with the sexism she experienced as a young competitor. The longer she played chess as a child, the harder it became to ignore the gender biases that cast female players as unskilled, or anomalies. She left the sport after being pushed to believe a female chess player could never compete at the highest level.
“Why am I playing and studying so hard if by default I’m not going to be as good as the boy next to me?” Zhao remembered thinking.
After her own experience of gender bias within the sport, Zhao wants to prevent any other players from feeling discouraged.
“From speaking to other chess players and coaches, it seems like the ages of 10 to 14 are that crucial juncture where a lot of players—especially female players—face the crossroads of whether to continue or to push past that or to drop out entirely,” Zhao said. “I made a decision that has stuck with me. I’m hoping that this book maybe helps other people make a decision that’s better for them.”
But Zhao hopes her novel reaches more than just an audience of young girls interested in chess, noting the universality of themes, like confronting gender biases and coping with the pressure of high expectations. In fact, she emphasized that young boys in particular should also pick up May the Best Player Win.
“A lot of the responsibility falls on both genders to be aware of the gender stereotypes that they might implicitly or explicitly hold, so that we can all consciously work through and unpack that,” she explained.
Although the response has been overwhelmingly positive, Zhao candidly shared that the transition from adult fiction to literature targeting younger readers wasn’t exactly easy. May the Best Player Win is Zhao’s first middle-grade novel, a category referring to books geared towards kids aged around 8-14.
“This was, by far, the hardest novel to write,” she said. “It was kind of hard for me to get into the mindset of the youthful, vibrant innocence of a child given the lens of the time, and the general pandemic depression… I spent four years rewriting and editing this novel, making sure I’m doing justice to my characters and their stories.”
Reaching into her authorial toolkit to do a little bit of tinkering, Zhao was able to rise to the occasion. After all, she is a seasoned storyteller now.
Her first novel of 2024, Valley Verified, debuted in January, marking the start of a whirlwind year. Though the novels were written for readers of different ages, she acknowledged the intense pressure of back-to-back releases.
“It’s been really packed,” Zhao said. “It’s both a blessing and a curse that they are in different age groups.”
Her next novel’s release date, slated for publication in January 2026, offers some much-needed breathing room. Titled Heirs of Infamy, the young adult historical fiction book will be another genre first for Zhao.
As for other future projects and events, she remains tight-lipped.
“I hope I can share more of them soon,” said Zhao.
