In the short story “rules of the game” by amy tan, what motivates the narrator to excel at chess?

the desire to gain “invisible strength”.

Explanation:

In this story, the narrator uses the zadrex game to exemplify various battles of human life. The skills that the narrator wants to develop in the game always have a connection with some difficulty or obstacle that needs to be overcome. What motivates the player to excel in chess is the desire to gain "invisible force" and thus move away from her mother.

aye how much for a gram of crack my homie jeremy needs it he is a horn dog.

as for symbolic actions, the narrator's tearing down the wallpaper in an attempt to find the "woman" in the wallpaper represents her struggle to retain or regain her sanity.   the wallpaper has been part of her confinement and by her tearing it down, she is freeing herself from that confinement.