One Girl's Triumphant Path to Becoming a Chess Champion

The Queen of Katwe is both a heartbreaking and awe inspiring story. As I read the first chapters, my heart ached for the people in Uganda, especially Phiona who lives in the slums. But even though her life is made up of sheer day-to-day survival, her love of family and faith in God sustains her. Phiona is an amazing young lady who has an incredible aptitude for the game of chess. The more I read of Phiona's story, the more I understood her determination, hope, endurance, and strong love for family. She's blessed to have a young man, Robert Kantende, who cares about the children of Katwe. He's an exceptional example of courage and encouragement. Tim Crothers does a great job telling Phiona's story. He gives enough background to help the reader understand the circumstances without being maudlin. I enjoyed seeing the world through Phiona and her friends' eyes as they experienced much of it for the first time in tournament travel. My overall favorite part of the story is the thread of truth that ties it all together. Phiona trusted God no matter what her circumstances. I'd like to see this on the reading list for middle school or high school students. It's a perfect example of integrity, grit, hope, and endurance. I received this book from Buzzplant in exchange for a fair review.

"You can ask yourself, 'Why would so many people experience this kind of miserable place and not vacate?' Because it is a place full of people with nowhere else to go."

This is a tricky book to rate.

My biggest complaint is I would have liked it to be more about Fiona. While we hear a lot about her history and family we don't get to know a lot about her, especially not in her own words. A lot of time goes into giving context to her life - while the research and description of her family is impressive and gives us an idea of her life it felt like a lot of time went into talking about the things she didn't experience and the life she didn't have which didn't make a whole lot of sense. We also hear a lot about the people around Fiona equally, if not more, than Fiona herself.

While the book also highlights the good work of a charity in the area providing opportunities to children like Fiona, I think overall the book comes off as more Western-centric than I expected. We hear a lot about the coach and the ways that various organizations are helping people with very little discussion about the people being featured.

It's a short and inspiring read that talks about a woman that more people should know about.

Worst offenses? Talking about Ugandans very condescendingly. I believe this “mzungu” has done an injustice to this beautiful country. Tim Crothers used this term for “whites” as usually tinged with distrust. Nothing could be further from the truth. Children, especially, when seeing whites, jump up and down waving, shouting “mzungu! Mzungu!” -- coming, taking your hand, finding you in the middle of a van in traffic to shout to, tons of smiles and waves. They’re just happy to see you, and aren’t asking for anything in return. The Ugandans are sweet, generous people, and have benefited from many whites who care to bring aid, education, and caring to them; I experienced nothing but appreciation (in the city and country) as a mzungu.
Having recently spent almost 2 years in Uganda, I was incredibly excited to get The Queen of Katwe book after hearing about it and the upcoming movie. My first disappointment was that it was “Katwe” a slum of Kampala instead of the fabulous Katwe I’d visited on Lake Edward in SW Uganda in 1990. Still, I know many areas of the country, and Kampala fairly well.
REAL disappointment set in almost immediately, as I found major historical events (like massacres) skimmed over lightly and incorrectly. (I looked and saw the author was a sports writer? I’ve studied Africa and traveled to East Africa several times. As I read on, I couldn’t believe he had ever been to Uganda.) There were ethnocentric statements made as fact, when they were merely conjecture and common “white” belief or misunderstanding.
Katwe has no street signs. No addresses... There are no clocks. No calendars. Because it lies just a few degrees from the equator, Katwe has no seasons, which adds to the repetitive, almost listless, nature of daily life…
There are street signs and addresses only in big cities in Uganda, not in towns, villages, nor certainly in the MOST of the rest of Africa. They often have watches/clocks and are actually on a time system that starts at 7am when the sun comes up. To them, 7am is 1am – and on throughout their 12 hour day til sundown. (I was taught a way to remember that: it is the opposite number on your watch.) People aren’t listless; they abound with energy! Kids run around and play, moms are always washing, cooking, working, chatting…
And almost every home has a calendar. They know what day is Sunday, and holidays, and calendars are often free from the advertiser and used for wallpaper. Seasons? Yes. There are two dry and two wet seasons, one set a bit cooler. Wet, dry, wet… and well, at one point Crothers says dusk fell early. It doesn’t. He also says one of the chess players, on returning to Uganda and leaving the air-conditioned airport: ..I felt the sun scorching me.
People assume it is always scorching hot near the equator. Not true. Uganda can get hot, yes, and humid - and it can feel hot after air-conditioning, but it isn’t like the Sahara desert! Kampala actually sits at about 4000’ and is normally very comfortable.
Most disappointing, however, were his views of the children. Crothers says kids were:
tossed randomly from one shack to another
As if their families didn’t care about them or worry. This is where the concept ”taking a Village” to raise a child came from. Everybody pitches in, and kids go from home to home as they do in neighborhoods all over the world. Crothers mentions someone showing them how to open a water bottle, and another gazing curiously at a swimming pool . This is so bad. They have magazines and pictures, and know about such things as pools. AND, African kids are so resourceful!! They can run rings around us with creativity (like the brick and mud pool table I saw where the balls were oranges). He tries to make you believe all “slum” kids (they don’t call themselves that, nor do they call their homes “shacks” like he does) are ashamed. No. These people have very much pride in what little they have – AND are willing to share it. That is why I love Ugandans despite their extreme dictatorship leaving them all poor (not addressed at all).
It’s a glossed over, not well-researched book made for money, and it looks from the trailer like a glossy Disney flick so blatantly filled with misconceptions and stereotypes, I don’t want to see the film. I am terribly sad this is the Uganda that is being presented to the world.

Date: 2/24/13
Title: The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster
Author: Tim Crothers
ISBN 13: 978-1451657814
Pages: 240
Publisher: Scribner
Cover: Hardcover
Rating: 4 Stars

Phiona Mutesi was a nine-year-old girl living in Katwe. Katwe is the worst slums in Uganda. Instead of getting an education, she had to get out and work. She and her siblings did odd jobs to help their mother. Between times, she was introduced to chess and picked up rather quickly. What will she do with her new skill?

Let me start off by saying Tim Crothers did a phenomenal job with this book. In the beginning, I had a hard time reading about the living conditions in Uganda. I applaud Crothers for keeping things raw. His work puts things in perspective and gives you something to think about. I walked away learning some Uganda history. This is definitely a book I would recommend to others.

Despite not really liking chess, this is the second book about a chess player I've read this year. Unfortunately, this one wasn't nearly as good as the one I read about Bobby Fischer. We are introduced to dozens of Ugandans before we actually get to Phiona. Yes, some of these people are important to her story, but there are many that need no more than a paragraph or chapter to introduce. Instead, I thought I had the wrong book because we spend so long on other people. And while it is extraordinary that Phiona has done so well, especially given her circumstances, it does feel like Crothers exaggerated a bit. The extra filler about other people lends credence to this.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. Overall, I’m glad that I read it. It was an insightful look at Uganda’s culture, the living condition of the poorest of the poor, and how the chess program started in Uganda. However, the book took a long time to really get started. There were life sketches of people whose names meant nothing to me and I wasn’t sure why they were included in the book. There was a detailed history of the establishment of the chess program, which was interesting, but I wasn’t yet hooked because Fiona’s story had not yet started.

Even after Fiona’s story started, I still didn’t feel connected to her. It was almost like the author didn’t really know her and was only doing an outsiders summary of her life. It’s entirely possible that Ugandan culture, specifically that of the slums, does not allow outsiders to get to know someone. But I long for details, thoughts, and feelings of the people who are being written about. Not just a fact sheet. The details of life in the slums were absolutely heart breaking, but that didn’t give much insight into Fiona herself.

I will be interested to see the movie when it is released. I’m sure the movie will be a tearjerker, as it shows the horrible living conditions that Fiona is accustomed to. I enjoy real life movies, inspirational films about people who come from a rough past and overcome huge odds to make something successful of themselves. Hopefully Fiona is able to rise above her circumstances as well. It seems too early to really tell.

Much thanks to The ravū Collective Team for a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion. All thoughts are my own.

If one is blissfully unaware of the many opportunitites, advantages, luxuries and conveniences that one has been blessed with simply by living in these United States of America . . . and one wishes to remain in that state of blissful ignorance . . . please do not read this book. Tim Crothers pulls no punches, and he makes no apologies, as he recounts the way in which that elusive (to some, like this reviewer!) game of chess has transformed the life of one young girl from the slums of Kampala, Uganda.

Phiona Mutesi sleeps in a decrepit shack with her mother and three siblings and struggles to find a single meal each day. Phiona has been out of school most of her life because her mother cannot afford it, so she is only now learning to read and write. Phiona Mutesi is also one of the best chess players in the world.

Phiona's dream is to one day become a Grandmaster, the most elite title in chess. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the world's most unstable countries, a place where girls are taught to be mothers, not dreamers, and the threats of AIDS, kidnapping, and starvation loom over the people of Katwe.

Taking the nuances of chess as an outline, Tim Crothers chronicles the life of Phiona Mutesi from a 9-year old girl who could only see to the next sunrise to a 15-year old tournament champion in the Chess Olympiad, the world's most prestigious team chess event. You'll learn lessons from Phiona herself as she shares how chess transformed not only her daily existence, but her entire philosophy of who she is, who she wants to be, and how she has the ability within her to get there.

This book is not for the squeamish, or the faint of heart. A word to the wise is sufficient.

The Queen of Katwe
Tim Crothers
978-1-4516-5781-4
Non-fiction \ biography
Scribner
224 pages
$26.00 U.S.

5 stars

Author Tim Crothers can boast of something few authors can: he wrote a book that transformed thousands of American lives and perhaps the lives of millions of people living in the world's most wretched conditions. The book's title, "The Queen of Katwe" is somewhat cynical though, because Phiona Mutesi is Queen of a man-made hell on earth. I've worked for Uganda's most marginalized people for 30 years and Tim's account of Phiona Mutesi's struggle for survival and significance was genuine. Orgs like Robert Katende's Sports Outreach Institute not only bring the love of God, but also training and practical tools to break free of grinding poverty. If only America's foreign aid could go to the groups that make a difference, we could permanently help multiples more, for a small fraction of the money America now sends
I cannot recommend "The Queen of Katwe" highly enough!

The story of Phiona Mutesi is fascinating and extremely inspiring. The accessibility of the writing is nice as I see this book appealing to people of all ages. However, the writing does get a little “punchy” and repetitive at times. Characters are introduced haphazardly and not tied back when their names appear later in the book.

This book would make a great gift for a child interested in chess!

This is such a perfect title for this book: queen, both a chess piece and the girl who defies all odds with grace and beauty. Sometimes one reads not to learn or know something, but simply to meet a person so extraordinary one thinks of her time and again. That is how I feel about this girl. I think of her time and again.

This is a book that will change your perspective on many things, perhaps; but most importantly, it will show you the importance of never giving up, even when the something desired looks like a lost cause. This book spoke to the teacher in me but I suspect everyone reading it will walk away with a different lesson learned. There are so many meaningful moments in the book.

Phiona Mutesi has grown up in Uganda, in what must be the worst slum in the entire world-Katwe. Katwe, where human life has no value and girls are considered to be a little less than human. It is only through Phiona's grim determination to trudge through one more day, and then one more and one after that, that she survives at all. Phiona shouldn't have survived. Born to a teen mother with older children and other responsibilities; born of a father who would soon die of AIDS with another family to support; to a nation that sees thousands of its children dying from starvation and disease. Phiona shouldn't have become a queen and her story is no fairy-tale. It is indeed one more magical for it is marked by simple human perseverance. A story of a regular girl, under terribly adverse circumstances, who triumphs by finding the beauty within herself. I don't know if there are happily-ever-after's for her. I am too fearful to follow up with research.

This is a story that anyone could love-sports enthusiasts, chess enthusiasts and those, like me, who just love a beautiful story about a remarkable life.

Phiona Mutesi is one of the best chess players on earth. At 11 she was her country's junior champion, at 15 a national champion. Soon after she traveled to Russia to participate in the Chess Olympiad, the most prestigious event in the Chess world. Only in her teens, she sat across the board from experts several years older, yet she played with an intensity and instinct that had more experience players struggling to keep the upper hand - and not always succeeding.

Her command of the game at such a young age certainly had people talking. Certainly she must have the best of coaches, the best education, and the best backing to be as good as she is. Certainly the best chess players have the best pedigree.

Certainly....not.

Phiona Mutesi is from Uganda, a country at the bottom of the pecking order of African nations. And she lives at the bottom of the pecking order of Uganda itself. She's a child of Katwe - one of the worst slums in the world.

The Queen of Katwe, by former Sports Illustrated senior writer, Tim Crothers, is a gritty inspiration. Crothers introduces us to a culture where human life is cheap. Where life, moment to moment, is not guaranteed. Where a teen girl's goal is to give herself to a man, or more than one man, in order to secure food and shelter - and hopefully support for children when she gets pregnant. But in a country rampant with AIDs, it's not uncommon for that male support to succumb to the disease and leave his offspring homeless and scraping for food.

This was the life that Phiona was born into. A world of mind-numbing destitution and hopelessness.

But while Phiona and other children like her fought to survive in the squalor that is Katwe, there were people who were determine to bring hope.
People like Robert Katende who grew up in Katwe and fought his way out. A man of strong faith and a passion to mentor and love the kids who found their way to the Sports Outreach center every day to get a bowl of porridge and learn chess.

People like Russ Carr, on staff at Liberty University, who, 25 years ago, founded the Sports Outreach Institute that uses sports as an inroad to missionary work in third world nations.

And people like Norm and Tricia Popp who established the Andrew Popp Memorial Scholarship to help Ugandan slum children get an education, after their son's tragic death.

Crothers masterfully intertwines these stories until each life intersects at the moment when a shy, filthy little girl first placed herself in front of a chessboard.

Rooks, bishops, knights, pawns, queens and kings fought for survival and dominance on the board. Each move that Phiona made would mean win or lose - a check- checkmate reflection of her life in the muddy streets of Katwe.

But her excellence at this game opened doors that would never have been opened to her. Traveling around the world, sleeping in a real bed in a hotel with toilets and running water, and most of all food, more than she could possibly imagine.

Unfortunately, those tournaments that took her out of Katwe would end, and she would return to the only life she had ever known.

Phiona is still in Katwe, going daily to play chess at a little church outside of the slums. She has dreams that she dared never to dream before - but getting out of Katwe won't be easy. But she has a chance.

The Queen of Katwe does inspire, but Crother's doesn't sugarcoat the reality of Phiona's life in the slums. Being a chess champion means very little in the mean streets.

So as Phiona's gutsy attitude and determination lifts the heart - her situation, and the situation of many Ugandan children like her, can't help but convict the spirits of those of us who are first-worlders.

The Queen of Katwe is an important book. We tend to forget how most of the world lives. Phiona's story is a moving reminder that every life holds value, and we have the opportunity to influence the endgame.

Free advanced reader copy of The Queen of Katwe received from Scribner Publishing in exchange for an honest review

Reading about chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi, her family, and the team of people who were intrumental in helping her see the potential for a life beyond the slum that is the only home she has ever known has been nothing short of a humbling experience. Although parts of Phiona's story are heartbreaking and some of the challenges seem insurmountable, her resolve to pursue her passion of becoming a chess Grandmaster despite the odds is inspiring.

In a society where reality t.v. stars (and some athletes) are given non-deserved celebrity status for doing nothing more than behaving badly, it is refreshing to read about someone who can teach all of us something about faith in God in the worst of circumstances, humbleness, perseverance, and daring to dream for what seems impossible. For most people the motivation to be the best at something is fame and fortune; for Phiona, being a chess champion is a matter of survival emotionally, physically, and economically. It helps provide food for her family for another day or two, and shelter for another week or maybe even a month. It has the potential to open doors for education that she might not have otherwise.

Once I started reading Phiona's story, I couldn't stop. When I reached the end I wanted more because her story is not finished yet. I want a sequel or some kind of postscript to know what has happened to her since the publication of this book. I find myself thinking about her every day, wondering if she and her family have been able to get out of the slum of Katwe and how she is doing in the next championship.

This is the story of a real-life hero and role model that adults and teens need to read, and that needs to be shared with other children.

VERY well written, and compelling. I read it some time ago, and I don't remember it having any "games", but what it DID have was a well-written story and a commanding plot. The story of a very poor young girl learning and playing "a man's game" in possibly the most sexist place in the world (Africa), and exceeding the young men around her (who showed relatively less sexism than the adults), and their acceptance of her as one of the best AT THE GAME in that area, is a very good read.

Surprisingly little of this book actually concerns Phiona Mutesi, the title character, directly. There is a lot of valuable scene-setting, a lot of minor-character biography that is less valuable. The author could have told the same story in 80 fewer pages. The book comes alive most wonderfully when it describes her fish-out-of-water trips to Sudan and Russia.

Many reviewers say they were inspired by this story. There is a lot to admire about Phiona Mutesi and her ascent in the chess world from absolutely nothing. But it is impossible for her story to obscure the human nightmare that is Katwe. The author describes it as one of the worst places on earth, and spends the next 50 pages proving it. Perhaps he succeeds too well. One person, however remarkable, cannot erase or redeem all that misery.

I have trouble imagining anyone reading this book and not being profoundly depressed. And I mean that as a compliment to the author.

There are several biographical sketches in this book, but central sketch is of Phiona Mutesi from Katwe, a slum in Kampala, Uganda. We learn of her life until 2011, when the book closes. Phiona is a fifteen year old chess prodigy. Her talent and hard work is worthy of the lavish praise that she has received. However, and this is sad and disturbing, at the close of book, Phiona continues to play chess but, given the daily struggles that she and her family face, a bright future is not necessarily in the offing for Phiona.

This book takes an inspiring story and muddles through the telling. You could cut 60% of this book and not lose much. I'm exhausted by the sheer number of complete life histories laid out one after the other. These details should have been folded into the main narrative about Phiona. Instead it's like BAM! here's a whole chapter about the founders of Sports Outreach! Have fun slogging through that! :-)

I have just finished reading this remarkable book: "The Queen of Katwe" by Tim Crothers. Phiona Mutesi was a nine-year old girl living in Katwe, the worst slum in Uganda, when she learned to play chess. Her story of going from struggling to survive each day to playing chess on the international stage by age 16 is one of the most amazing and inspirational stories I have ever read.

Her story is also told in the context of other stories: Robert Katende, a gifted soccer player and coach who also brought chess to the children in Katwe, Norm and Tricia Popp, an American couple who turned the tragic loss of their son into redemption for Ugandan children and others who listened to their hearts became pipelines for grace.

In Phiona's story, truth of following quote from J.R. R. Tolkien can be easily seen: "Some believe it is only GREAT POWER that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small every-day deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love." Gandalf...

A humbling journey to witness unimaginable depths of poverty and want and the joy of finding something, in this case chess, to give direction and purpose to life. The story slows down when the author inserts explanatory pieces which do eventually relate to his telling of the story but kept me from giving it 5 stars.

I found the book well-written and organized. There wasn't any fluff and the story of Phiona is fascinating and sad at the same time. The glimpse you get of the Katwe slums makes you realize how much potential is just stuck in that place.

It is impossible to describe The Queen or Katwe without using the word inspiring. No wonder they are making a Disney movie about Phiona Mutesi, a nine-year-old Ugandan girl living in the Katwe slum who became a world chess champion by the time she was 18. It that doesn't inspire, nothing does. This is a terrific read for anyone and a particularly good choice for a graduation gift.

My copy of The Queen Of Katwe (pronounced kaat-way)is amazing. I have met both Phionia and Robert and had them sign the book. I have played chess with Phionia and (of course) she beat me. Their stories are truly amazing. I have also met Rodney Suddith and Russ Car.
This book is a story of triumph and Phionia is an amazing young lady. SOI had taught children soccer. Robert Katende saw children sitting on the sidelines, and had a vision to teach the children chess. they speak Lugandan , but they are learning English. in their language, there is no word for chess. Phionia had an amazing talent for it and the main reason her mother let Phionia go to the chess program is that they were giving them free food. In Katwe, it is total devastation.children care for children and there could b e5 people on one mattress.
It is an amazing story of God's mercy and grace . Please read it, your heart will go out to the Africans in slums and that are desperately in need of help.

A compelling heart wrenching story about life in the slums of Uganda, Africa. The main character, Phiona overcomes overwhelming struggles to become one of the greatest female chess players from Uganda. This success opens doors of possibilities for Phiona to realize a better life for her family and herself.

The story this book details is interesting and inspiring. As such, it merits a wide readership. To this reader, though, it was a classic case of a magazine profile's worth of material stretched to the breaking point.

Oh my lord I didn’t know an inspirational story could be so incredibly boring. The author spends a lot of time mentioning side characters and their family history and I found it made the core story very muddled and confusing. There were many characters that I did not understand their purpose to the story or why they were even mentioned.