Stosh runs into Zara on the townhouse steps. They talk about her art before being joined by Eric, dressed as a chess piece. He is on his way to a human chess game. Caryn is running late for work, but is introduced to Eric's friend and fellow chess piece, Carl.

Stosh wants to represent Zara as an artist and enter her into a contest being held by a local hotel. She is reluctant, but he goes ahead and enters her anyway. She makes it to the five finalists.

Eric has an opportunity to go from knight to rook. All he has to do is get Carl a date with Caryn. Caryn is hesitant but agrees to do Eric a favor. When the date doesn't go well, she claims she never wants to go out with him again. But when he doesn't call her the next day, she changes her mind.

Zara wins the contest after Stosh pulls at the heartstrings of the judges with a made-up story of Zara's upbringing. After winning, she feels the pressure and struggles to start her painting. He tricks her into completing it on time.

Meanwhile, Caryn shows up at the human chess game and confronts Carl. It turns out he was using her to make his ex-girlfriend jealous, which starts a huge brawl on the chess board and results in Eric being demoted to checker.