To answer this question, we first need to establish what the conflict in this short story is. In a nutshell, it is a battle of wills between national chess champion Waverly and her mother, whose excessive pride in her daughter's achievements on the chess board cause Waverly embarrassment. Early in the story, there is also psychological warfare between Waverly and her mother due to Lindo's insistence on traditional gender roles, which sees Waverly doing chores while her brothers can do whatever they like.

Their relationship becomes even more complicated once Waverly becomes a chess sensation, with Lindo claiming Waverly's success as the entire family's success, while Waverly wishes to view it as her individual accomplishment. Waverly gets angry and decides to run away because of this conflict. She returns in less than a day, however, when she realizes that she's too young to cope without the support of her family.

The outcome of this conflict is that Waverly realizes that she needs to strike a balance between asserting her individuality and standing up for what she believes in, and being a part of her family and respecting her mother's Chinese values. She understands that to achieve this, she must be as strategic as she is on the chess board.