You know what's funny? I had assumed the gender of the speaker the entire way through was female - but there really isn't anything to ground the speaker's gender. I just read this again, and it rather seems more magical if you imagine a young man fronting up to grandpa's house each week to intentionally lose a game of chess. There's an almost unexpected kindness in the act, but perhaps goes more with the imagery of the chess board. Who knows? Either way, I'll be back to third person next week, you can bet on that!