Queen Catway’s gambit is still playing with slum players in Uganda

The famous chess club in the slums in Uganda’s capital, became the focus of the Hollywood movie “The Queen” but is still producing the champion – but facing the struggle to survive every day.

Run by actor David Oyelowo, chess coach Robert Katende, played in the 2016 Disney film, he still believes that despite financial struggles, he managed to change children’s lives through chess.

Mr. Katende said to the BBC during a visit to Somchess Academy in Katwe, a poor neighborhood in Kampala: “We use chess as a teaching tool.

Shortly after graduating as a civil engineer, he first started working as a football coach at Katwe before deciding on chess – a board that started in 2004 and was determined to help.

Within a year, nine-year-old Phiona Mutesi dropped out of school and joined – and continued to be a chess prodigy.

She won the title of National Women’s Junior Championship for three times, participated in several famous International Chess Olympics, and by the age of 16, she was awarded the female candidate master by the World Chess Federation.

The film tells her extraordinary story, with Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o playing her mother.

Mr Katende said her success comes from resilience and determination – and demonstrates the true power of change in chess.

She also continues to inspire many of Mr. Katende’s players, including 18-year-old Patricia Kawuma.

“In addition to getting a school scholarship, this game taught me how to develop strategies and plans and instill discipline and patience,” the two-time National Junior Chess champion told the BBC.

She also represented Uganda in two international competitions and made money by winning chess competitions.

Bonus and sponsorships allow her to pay for her tuition and for her siblings.

Mr. Kettender said over the past two decades, more than 4,000 children have experienced his plans, some of whom ended up becoming doctors, engineers and lawyers.

His major improvement comes after journalist Tim Crothers published in 2012 about Ms. Mutesi caught Disney’s attention.

This gave him a grant of $50,000 (£36,000) when the film company decided to continue putting the book into the film.

This led him to buy a real estate in Catway, headquartered at his college, from where he also runs the Robert Katende initiative.

He was able to extend the chess club from Katway to conferences within Uganda prisons – as well as slums in neighboring Kenya and Rwanda, as well as countries in Angola, Botswana, Cameroon and Malawi.

He said that currently, more than 2,500 children and about 800 prisoners are in his plan, which helps them to formulate and make key decisions.

The 43-year-old told me: “Chess is a metaphor for life. There are challenges and surprises everywhere, but if you look closely, you can find opportunities and find your own path.”

“The bad moves of chess mean you will lose your life, just like life.”

The coaches did not predict the coach, he was a senior story consultant and trained the actors in the chess scene.

Walt Disney Company has caused losses to the film – which has had an impact on his emerging chess project.

He said he, Ms. Mutes and the mother of the chess champion were guaranteed to have a considerable share of any Disney profit – 67%.

However, the company told him that it made just $10 million after investing about $15 million (£11 million) in a drama directed by Mira Nair.

“The loss put me in a bad position because people think I’ve covered up some of the money,” Katend said.

“Many people think I’m the Hollywood chess coach after the movie, but the hard truth is that we haven’t made a profit from it yet.”

But, he said, he was not in pain because the film promoted his chess program and attracted local and international partners.

“If Disney hadn’t made a movie, we wouldn’t be there; I don’t think we would know – and many others came to support our philosophy.”

Ms. Mutesi’s reputation helped earn her a 2017 scholarship to Northwestern University, and now she works as a business analyst in Canada and is able to support her mother, who has moved back to her hometown outside Kampala.

However, Mr. Katende’s mission has faced enormous financial challenges since the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have to narrow down operations and close some training centers. Before Covid I had 14 employees, but now we have 8 employees. I’m worried that we might let go of more employees due to financial restrictions.”

Due to lack of funds, his thousands of players in Uganda can only scramble to 120 chess boards.

Uganda’s current junior chess champion, 19-year-old Jovan Kasozi (one of Mr. Katende’s Protégés), was also hit.

The Katende Chess Initiative paid for his studies, and the teenager was able to get an extra chess training course from some good wishes – but he missed the international competition last year because he couldn’t raise $400 for his air tickets.

“But I didn’t give up on chess, the game inspired my mind, which made me very good at math. It made me think like a computer,” the young man told the BBC.

Mr. Cartoonde is equally optimistic, saying it could be a long game on Disney.

“Hope they even break it,” he said, adding that profits may start coming in.