Chess champ from Uganda slum fostered by Lynchburg charity

Born into a Uganda slum, 14-year-old Phiona Mutesa is the “ultimate underdog,” according to freelance journalist Tim Crothers, who spoke at Lynchburg College this week.

 “Katwe, where she lives, is a place where dreams are discouraged,” Crothers said.

Against all odds, Phiona, who could barely read and write, earned a spot at the 2010 Chess Olympiad in Russia, where she competed against chess champions from around the world.

Crothers, a freelance journalist from North Carolina, chronicled Phiona’s experience for a January issue of ESPN Magazine. He was invited to speak in Lynchburg Tuesday night for LC’s ongoing effort to raise awareness about poverty in Uganda and Haiti. Events this week also included a human chess game Wednesday at the college to raise money for relief efforts in both countries.

In a way, Lynchburg’s ties to Phiona run deep. At age 9, Phiona got hooked on chess through Sports Outreach, a Lynchburg-based mission organization stationed in her slum.

Run by a six-person staff in Lynchburg, Sports Outreach supports a team of 140 missionaries who provide relief to some of the world’s poorest people. The missionaries use sports, mainly soccer, to connect with local communities.

“Sports is such a wonderful, universal language,” said Rodney Suddith, executive director of Sports Outreach. “We like to say, ‘It all starts with a ball.’”

In the Katwe slum, Sports Outreach added a chess project for kids who didn’t take to soccer. Had it not been for the Lynchburg nonprofit, Phiona might never have picked up a chess piece.

When Crothers met Phiona last fall, she lived in a 10-foot-by-10-foot shack with her mother and four siblings.

 Her life revolved around the daily struggle to find food and clean water, Crothers said.

Phiona found sanctuary in chess. She played in the rickety church run by Sports Outreach, taking on the other children in her slum.

“It’s the only place in Katwe where they all feel safe,” Crothers said.

Through chess, Phiona earned the chance to play in national tournaments. Overnight, her world expanded, Crothers said.

“Phiona thought everyone else in the world lived exactly as she did,” Crothers said.

At age 14, she won a spot to compete at the Chess Olympiad in Russia for Uganda’s national team.

At the tournament, the self-taught Phiona played against some of the world’s most experienced chess masters, some of whom had been professionally trained since early childhood.

She was intimidated, Crothers said, but held her own.

Phiona walked away with one win, four losses and one draw. With her prize money, she bought a bunk bed set for her family’s tiny shack.

Next year, Phiona plans to compete in the 2012 Chess Olympiad in Turkey. Since Uganda could not afford to send its team to the championship, an American benefactor who read Crothers’ story has picked up the travel expenses.

Crothers considers himself a “messenger” of Phiona’s story, and shies away from taking credit for the attention she has received in the United States.

“It’s the most rewarding story I’ve ever worked on as a journalist,” said the former Sports Illustrated reporter.

Phiona, he said, currently attends school through a Sports Outreach scholarship. Aside from chess, her life in the slum remains much the same.