Queen of Katwe’s gambit nonetheless in play for Uganda’s slum chess gamers

A well-known chess membership in a slum of Uganda’s capital that turned the main target of the Hollywood film Queen of Katwe continues to be producing champions – however faces a every day battle to outlive.

Run by chess coach Robert Katende, performed by actor David Oyelowo within the Disney movie launched in 2016, he nonetheless believes that regardless of monetary struggles he’s managing to vary youngsters’s lives for the higher by chess.

“We use chess as a instructing instrument. To establish the potential of the learners and information them to their future,” Mr Katende advised the BBC on a go to to his SomChess Academy in Katwe, a poor neighbourhood of Kampala.

Shortly after graduating as a civil engineer, he first started volunteering in Katwe as a soccer coach earlier than deciding on chess – beginning up with a single chessboard in 2004 and a dedication to assist.

Inside a 12 months nine-year-old Phiona Mutesi, who had dropped out of faculty, joined up – and went on to turn out to be a chess prodigy.

She took the title of nationwide ladies’s junior champion thrice, competed in a number of prestigious worldwide chess Olympiads and by the age of 16 was given the title Girl Candidate Grasp by the World Chess Federation.

It was her exceptional story that was advised within the movie, with Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o taking part in her mom.

Mr Katende says her success got here from resilience and dedication – and exhibits the actually transformative energy of chess.

She additionally continues to be an inspiration for a lot of of Mr Katende’s gamers, together with 18-year-old Patricia Kawuma.

“Other than successful faculty scholarships, this recreation has taught me find out how to strategise and plan forward, and it instils self-discipline and persistence,” the two-time nationwide junior chess champion advised the BBC.

She has additionally represented Uganda in two worldwide tournaments and has earned cash by successful chess competitions.

Prize cash and sponsorships have enabled her to pay for her personal faculty charges in addition to these of her siblings.

Mr Katende says greater than 4,000 youngsters have gone by his programmes during the last 20 years, with a few of them ending up turning into medical doctors, engineers and legal professionals.

His huge increase got here after a guide printed in 2012 by journalist Tim Crothers about Ms Mutesi caught the attention of Disney.

When the movie firm determined to go forward and make the guide right into a film, it gave him a one-time grant of $50,000 (£36,000).

This allowed him purchase a property in Katwe to headquarter his academy and from the place he additionally runs the Robert Katende Initiative.

He was capable of prolong his chess membership from Katwe to classes inside Ugandan prisons – and to slums in neighbouring Kenya and Rwanda, and people in nations so far as Angola, Botswana, Cameroon and Malawi.

At present, greater than 2,500 youngsters and about 800 inmates are in his programmes, which assist them to develop and make essential selections, he says.

“Chess is a metaphor for all times. There are challenges and surprises in all places however in case you look intently you will discover alternatives, you will discover your method by,” the 43-year-old advised me.

“A nasty transfer in chess means you’ll lose, simply the identical with life.”

There may be one transfer the coach, who labored on the Queen of Katwe movie as a senior story marketing consultant and who educated the actors of their chess scenes, didn’t predict.

The Walt Disney Firm made a loss on the movie – and this has had repercussions for his burgeoning chess initiatives.

He, Ms Mutesi and the chess champion’s mom had been promised a large share of any Disney income – 67%, he says.

However he was advised by the company that after investing about $15m (£11m) into the drama, directed by Mira Nair, it had solely made again $10m.

“The loss put me in a nasty spot as a result of individuals assume that I’ve hidden some cash,” Mr Katende stated.

“Many individuals assume I am a rich Hollywood chess coach after the movie however the onerous reality is that we’re but to profit from its income.”

Nevertheless, he says he’s not bitter because the movie publicised his chess programmes, attracting each native and worldwide companions.

“If Disney had not executed the movie, we would not be the place we’re; I do not assume we’d be identified – and plenty of different individuals have come on board to assist our philosophy,” he stated.

Ms Mutesi’s fame helped her win a scholarship to Northwest College within the US in 2017 and she or he now works in Canada as a enterprise analyst and is ready to assist her mom, who has moved again to their dwelling village outdoors Kampala.

However Mr Katende’s mission faces big monetary challenges as most of his companions have fallen off because the coronavirus pandemic.

“We needed to scale down operations and shut down some coaching centres. Earlier than Covid I had 14 workers, however now we’ve got eight. I concern we would let go of extra workers resulting from monetary constraints,” he stated.

1000’s of his gamers in Uganda need to scramble for less than 120 chess boards resulting from a scarcity of funds.

Uganda’s present junior chess champion, 19-year-old Jovan Kasozi – one among Mr Katende’s protégés – has additionally been hit.

The Katende chess initiative pays in the direction of his education and {the teenager} has been capable of sometimes crowdfund from some properly wishers for additional chess coaching classes – however final 12 months he missed out a global event as a result of he couldn’t elevate $400 for his air ticket.

“However I am not giving up on chess, the sport stimulates my thoughts and it has made me to be superb at arithmetic. It makes me assume like a pc,” the younger man advised the BBC.

Mr Katunde is equally upbeat, saying that it could be a protracted recreation in relation to Disney.

“Hopefully they may attain out to me in the event that they break even,” he stated, including that then the income may begin coming in.