Using the game of chess to reveal the hidden potential
of children living in the Slums!

“When she walked in she was so dirty that the other kids from the slum would not really welcome her,” said Robert, the chess coach and mentor in the slums.

            Robert is a Ugandan soccer player who originally set out to teach kids soccer, but quickly noticed that there were dozens of children who would sit on the sidelines uninterested in playing. He wanted to find an alternative and inexpensive sport to teach them to sharpen their minds…so he chose chess. Two years later he has found himself running a daily chess camp and mentoring program for kids in the slums of Kampala, Uganda. One might think that the kids would just play for fun and not actually excel, right? Wrong. Meet Phiona Mutesi…

            Phiona’s father died from AIDS when she young, and her mother struggled to earn enough money to buy food and pay rent in the slums. In order to help feed her family, Phiona ended up quitting school in order to earn money. After receiving some assistance from Sports Outreach Institute, Phiona was able to return to school.

            Phiona’s family still struggled to pay for her meals, so she searched for any free food she could find. She heard that a chess camp in the slums provided a meal to children who attended the the class. So she showed up in search of a meal…but discovered her passion.

            In a game that is normally dominated by boys, she was not expected to perform well. However, after some training from Robert, she was able to enter a tournament in the slums knowing that the winner would receive a duck. Maybe it was because her family was always hungry, or maybe it was because she was just that good, but Phiona set her mind to win and walked away with being the slum champion. And that is just the beginning…

            Robert recognized something special in Phiona and thought that he would enter her into the Uganda junior chess championships. Ugandan officials laughed at the thought of a young girl from the slums trying to compete, but Robert convinced them to let her enter, and he found a sponsor to pay her entry fee. With no duck on the line this time, Phiona still won! And it gets better…

            Since she won the Ugandan chess title, she qualified for the African championships, and for the first time in her life, she left the slums and went on her first plane ride to Juba, Sudan to compete against the best chess players in Africa. “Everyone told me that the best player came from Kenya, and I drew her in the first round. I was very nervous but defeated her. I knew after that, I could win the whole tournament,” Phiona says with a shy smile on her face. And that is exactly what she did. She went on to win the African chess championship at age 10…the youngest champion ever.

            So what is next for Phiona? The world championships, of course. In mid September, she will fly to Siberia as the youngest player to be invited. “Do you even know where Siberia is?” I ask Phiona.

            “No, but Robert tells me that I will need a jacket,” Phiona says as she glances at Robert sitting across the chess board from her.

            Needless to say, this is an inspiring story that is quickly gathering attention. There is an author from ESPN preparing a story about her and others are working to compose a documentary film on Phiona, Robert and the work of Sports Outreach in the slums of Kampala.

            Just as important, I hope that her story inspires others to consider the hidden potential in children in developing countries… particularly those who live in the slums.