In 2011, Tim Crothers wrote in ESPN the Magazine about Phiona Mutesi, a teenage girl from the largest slum in Kampala, Uganda's capital, who was ranked second among the nation's women chess players. She is, he said, "the ultimate underdog. To be African is to be an underdog in the world. To be Ugandan is to be an underdog in Africa. To be from Katwe is to be an underdog in Uganda. To be a girl is to be an underdog in Katwe."
The Queen of Katwe expands that article to book length, enabling Crothers to probe deeply into Phiona's background. He doesn't just dig into her childhood, but examines the life of her mother, Harriet, who was brought to Katwe from her native village at the age of 12 and likely had her first child four years later. He also tells us all about Phiona's mentor, Robert Katende, an evangelical missionary who started a youth outreach in Katwe around soccer but eventually turned to chess as a way to reach the less athletically inclined children.
Phiona followed her brother to the chess club and became fascinated by the game. Once she started playing in earnest, she emerged as one of the group's fiercest players. "Phiona has a very aggressive plan," says another mentor of her playing style. "She surrounds you until you have nowhere to go and then she will squeeze you like a python until you are dead." She was originally sent to the women's national tournament simply to gain experience competing against highly skilled players; she swiftly qualified for international competition and could have been the Ugandan champion if she hadn't given away a victory to help a teammate.
Crothers tells Phiona's story in a straightforward manner, never losing sight of its emotional resonances. Chess has shown Phiona a world beyond Katwe--where one person can have an entire mattress to herself--but it hasn't provided her with a full escape. Returning home after winning her first tournament in another country, the young champion's main concern was whether her family would have enough food for breakfast the next morning. Such brutal conditions, Crothers reminds us, make it that much harder for Phiona to rise to the level of Grandmaster, and her optimism is not unlimited. "We all know how good Phiona is," confides one of her teammates. "Sometimes I think we know it more than she does." By the end of The Queen of Katwe, though, you'll join the ranks of those rooting for her success. --Ron Hogan, founder of Beatrice.com
Shelf Talker: Crothers expands upon his National Magazine Award-nominated feature story, an inspirational profile of an amazing chess player from one of the world's worst slums.