The Queen of Katwe: One Girl's Triumphant Path to Becoming a Chess Champion

Tim Crothers

Little, Brown Book Group, Sep 29, 2016 - Biography & Autobiography - 256 pages

One day in 2005 while searching for food, nine-year-old Ugandan Phiona Mutesi followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende.

Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable dream: to empower kids in the Katwe slum through chess - a game so foreign there is no word for it in their native language. Laying a chessboard in the dirt, Robert began to teach. At first children came for a free bowl of porridge, but many grew to love the game that - like their daily lives - requires persevering against great obstacles. Of these kids, one girl stood out as an immense talent: Phiona.

By the age of eleven Phiona was her country's junior champion, and at fifteen, the national champion. Now a Woman Candidate Master - the first female titled player in her country's history - Phiona dreams of becoming a Grandmaster, the most elite level in chess. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the world's most unstable countries. The Queen of Katwe is a remarkable and inspirational book that shows how 'Phiona's story transcends the limitations of the chessboard' (Robert Hess, US Grandmaster).

About the author

Tim Crothers, a former senior writer at Sports Illustrated, is the author of The Man Watching and co-author of Hard Work. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Queen of Katwe: One Girl's Triumphant Path to Becoming a Chess Champion
• Author: Tim Crothers
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group, 2016
• ISBN: 0349141789, 9780349141787
• Length: 256 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / General; Biography & Autobiography / Women