Phiona Mutesi

Phiona Mutesi
Phiona Mutesi at the Women in the World Conference
Country	Uganda
Born	1996 (age 20–21) Kampala, Uganda
Title	Woman Candidate Master
FIDE rating	1628

Phiona Mutesi (born c. 1996) is a Ugandan chess champion. She was born in Katwe, the largest of Kampala's eight slums. Mutesi is one of the first titled female players in Ugandan chess history. She is the subject of a 2012 book and the 2016 film Queen of Katwe.

Mutesi grew up in the Ugandan neighbourhood of Katwe. When she was roughly three years old, her father died of AIDS. Her older sister, Julia, subsequently died of unknown causes. At age nine, Mutesi dropped out of school because her family could no longer afford to send her.

Living day to day, Mutesi sold maize in the Katwe street market, following her brother one day and discovering a project run by Sports Outreach Institute, a Christian and sports mission. In an after-school program run by Robert Katende, Mutesi began playing chess.

Mutesi later returned to school, sitting in 2010 for her primary exam and studying at a Universal Junior school in Makindye, Kampala. She continued her secondary education at St. Mbuga vocational school.

In 2010, Mutesi played six rounds on board 2 and one round on board 1 for Uganda at the 39th Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. She earned 1.5 points from the seven games she played,

As of 2012, she was a three-time winner of the junior girls' chess championship of Uganda.

In 2012, Mutesi and Ivy Amoko were accorded Woman Candidate Master titles because of their scores at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey. This made them the first titled female players in Ugandan chess history.

Also in 2012, Mutesi became the first female player to win the Open Category of the National Junior Chess Championship in Uganda.

In 2013, she again played in the National Junior Chess Championship in Uganda. She won the Under 20 Girls Category but not the Open Category.

In 2014, Mutesi played for the Ugandan women's team at the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway.