Phiona Mutesi
Phiona Mutesi is a Ugandan chess player.[1]
Biography
Although it is not certain when she was born, FIDE has estimated it to be in 1993.[1][2] She grew up in the Ugandan slum of Katwe. When Phiona was about three her father died of AIDS and shortly afterwards her older sister Juliet died of an unknown cause.[1] When Phiona was about nine, and had already dropped out of school as her family could not afford to send her, she joined a chess program run by the Sports Outreach Institute, which taught her how to play chess. In 2010, she sat for her primary leaving examinations at a Universal Junior school in Makindye Kampala where she performed very well. She went to the same primary school with Wamala Jonathan,Mukubya Benjamin(Another chess player) and other low key students. Jonathan says Mutesi was good at mathematics and was an open minded girl.She continued her secondary education at St. Mbuga vocational school, another "giant school" in chess.[1] In the same year she had played six rounds on board 2 and one round on board one for Uganda at the 39th Chess Olympiad, scoring 1.5 points from the seven,[3] and as of 2012 she was a three-time junior girls' champion of Uganda.[4] In 2012, Phiona and Ivy Amoko earned Woman Candidate Master (WCM) titles as a result of their performances at the 40th Chess Olympiad, making them the first titled female players in Ugandan chess history.[5][6][7] That same year Phiona became the first female player to win the open category of the National Junior Chess Championship in Uganda.[8] In September 2013, Mutesi played against Lutaaya Shafiq Holmes of Makerere University, whom she beat and thus took the trophy in the Uganda National Junior Chess Championship of 2013, which was held at City Oil Kira Road in Kisementi, Kololo. In 2014, Phiona played in the 41st Chess Olympiad, on the Ugandan women's team.[9]
Depiction in media
In 2012, a book was published about Phiona titled The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster, by Tim Crothers.[10] Disney has optioned the rights to the book, and began work on the film in 2012;[11] the film, Queen of Katwe, will star Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo. In the film, she will be portrayed by Madina Nalwanga.
There is also a documentary about Phiona on YouTube as of 2012.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d "ESPN the Magazine NEXT – Meet chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi – ESPN". ESPN. 4 January 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
- ^ Phiona Mutesi rating card at FIDE
- ^ Herzog, Heinz (9 October 2010). "39th Olympiad Khanty-Mansiysk 2010 Women tournament". Tournament Database. Chess-Tournament-Results-Server. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
- ^ "Phiona Mutesi To Speak at Philly All-Girls Chess Workshop". United States Chess Federation. 2012-11-29.
- ^ http://www.kawowo.com/index.php/chess/2149-uganda-gets-titled-players-at-world-chess-olympiad.html
- ^ http://www.kawowo.com/index.php/chess/2158-wanyama-becomes-fide-master.html
- ^ Mutesi, Amoko set to become Candidate Masters
- ^ Stephen Kisuze. "MUTESI WINS 2012 NATIONAL JUNIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP". fide.com.
- ^ Phillip Corry. "Uganda beats Puerto Rico at World Chess Olympiad". kawowo.com.
- ^ "The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster: Tim Crothers: 9781451657814: Amazon.com: Books". amazon.com.
- ^ a b Josh Levs, CNN (10 December 2012). "From slum life to Disney film: Ugandan teen chess star 'the ultimate underdog'". CNN.
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Further reading
- Wiedeman, Reeves (7 January 2013). "The Talk of the Town: Up Life's Ladder: Prodigy". The New Yorker. 88 (42): 20–21. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
