Check & Mate

Defne joins Mallory at the Challengers tournament in Las Vegas, where Koch tries to demean Mallory during an early social hour to bring down her morale. Tanu and Emil show up and explain that they want to support her, as her winning might help change things in the chess world. Every morning Mallory and Defne meet them for breakfast to discuss her upcoming matches, and Mallory wins match after match, earning fans and media attention.

She starts losing steam, ending several matches in a draw, but one night a bag of noodle soup and some candy appear at her hotel room. The comfort of it helps her sleep and return to games well-rested. It comes down to her and Koch, and at another social event, a group of other players brings her into the fold, sharing how badly they want her to defeat Koch and offering to add her to their online chat forum. She clarifies that the rumors about her and Nolan are not true and ignores when someone mentions him attending the tournament.