海角大神

The muddy alleyways and dark, crowded rooms of the Katwe slum in Uganda's capital city seem like the last place you鈥檇 expect to pick up a game of chess. But this is where one of the world鈥檚 most unlikely chess champions, 16 year-old Phiona Mutesi, first laid eyes on a board.

Young Ms. Mutesi was only nine at the time, a homeless school dropout hawking corn on the street. Her father died earlier and her family got evicted from their home. 聽

She heard about a Western-based religious charity that mentored slum kids and served food near her alleyway, and also taught the kids some odd game called chess.

鈥淚 was hungry,鈥� Mutesi says, 鈥淚鈥檇 never heard of chess, and I鈥檇 never seen it. So鈥� I was like, 鈥楳aybe I can also go there to learn about chess and get a cup of porridge.鈥欌��

She remembers on her first visit that, 鈥淚 was very dirty鈥�They didn鈥檛 accept me even to touch the pieces.鈥�

Eventually, someone at the organization, a US-based group called Sports Outreach ministry, assigned a five- year old child to teach Mutesi the rules of chess, setting her on a path that would eventually transform her life and outlook, and lead her to compete in international matches. 聽

The first indications that she might be a prodigy came when she started to beat the boys in chess. In Uganda, chess is considered too difficult for girls. But Mutesi changed that belief.

Boys don鈥檛 want to play with girls, 鈥渂ecause girls were not good,鈥� says her older brother, Brian Mugabi. "But right now I think she鈥檚 better than me.鈥�

Mutesi's success has challenged the expectations of girls in Katwe as well, who often think of themselves as intellectually inferior. Those who do go to school often drop out, and many end up pregnant by their mid-teens.

鈥淚 thought we couldn鈥檛 play chess, because I thought there were only boys who could play鈥�, says 13 year-old Stellah Babirye, who started the chess program at the same time as Phiona. 鈥淏ut at last I realized that we girls, we have opportunities as well.鈥�

'The ultimate underdog'

As a child, before learning the game, Mutesi was prone to anger, and literally threw stones at people when her temper flared. Her early chess game also had an aggressive style.

But that approach had its upside: At the age of 14 she qualified to represent Uganda in the World Chess Olympiad. Even without formal training, she proved apt enough to travel to Russia for the match. She is considered the best female player in Uganda and last year became the first Ugandan female to enter a male tournament and win.

Mutesi is 鈥渢he ultimate underdog鈥� in the world of chess, as described by sports writer Tim Crothers, who discovered Mutesi in 2009 and wrote a book about her, 鈥淭he Queen of Katwe,鈥� which was published last October. Disney is planning a film on her. The first bank checks from the Hollywood giant recently helped Mutesi鈥檚 family buy a plot of land.

鈥淪he has absolutely no business succeeding in this game鈥�She should never have discovered chess, and when she did discover it, she should never have been any good.鈥�

In central Africa, chess is 鈥渁 rich man鈥檚 sport,鈥� Crothers continues. 鈥淚t鈥檚 considered a sport for the intellectual, and it鈥檚 certainly not considered a sport of Uganda.鈥�

Street smarts

Robert Katende, who runs the Katwe chess program, doesn't think Mutesi鈥檚 chess aptitude is so surprising. He has a theory that some basic aspect found in chess 鈥� the need to pay close attention to moves to survive and win 鈥� resonates with the experience of many kids from the slums.

鈥淚 very much believe that having gone through all they go through from childhood, figuring out how to survive on a daily basis, they easily identify themselves with the board,鈥� Mr. Katende says. 鈥淭hey have to face challenges, devise moves, think what will be the next step, what will come after that. I think it somehow makes them understand it better.鈥�

Mutesi learned her moves with nothing other than a few grubby boards and chess magazines from the 1970s. She has never had the training materials, nor learned the kind of opening moves and combinations that are familiar to most of the players she meets at international tournaments.

聽鈥淔or them, they have theory, and they play on what they know,鈥� Mutesi says. 鈥淢e, I just come and I see the board, and I look for the best move.鈥�

Last year she was named 鈥渃andidate master.鈥� While that is the lowest ranking in the World Chess Federation hierarchy, it is leagues better than most amateurs.

Mutesi speaks of becoming a ranked 鈥済randmaster,鈥� but Crothers says that while she has 鈥渇igured out how to play almost completely on instinct,鈥� she will need more rigorous theoretical and conceptual training to make the top competitive ranks.聽

But such informal preparation can also make the Katwe chess kids more formidable opponents, points out Mr. Katende.

鈥淢any people lose games to these children, simply because of that. Because they expect them to play certain lines, and they don鈥檛. They play their own game.鈥�