In 2010, Silent Images made a short documentary film about Phiona Mutesi. In 2012, a book was published about her titled The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster. Then in 2016, The Walt Disney Company made a film about her, the Queen of Katwe.
I don't mean to take anything away from Ms Mutesi's accomplishments who grew up in a difficult background and discovered chess as a way out of her situation. Nor do I fault Disney for making a feel good movie about her, and the massive awareness campaign that, hopefully, helped to solve some of her and her family's problems. But…
...chess-wise, the whole thing was Hollywood hype. She was hardly a prodigy and being awarded the Woman Candidate Master title by FIDE was an affront to thousands of female players who are far better players. In 2012, FIDE awarded Mutesi the lowest-ranked title following her performance in the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul. The title requires that recipients reach, at least once, a rating of 2000. At the time, she was rated 1686, won only one game, against a Korean rated 1542. She also drew three games and lost three. This hardly seems good enough to be worthy of a title.
I am aware of the argument that one reason for her low rating might be the fact that players in her country don't get a lot of chances to play against FIDE rated opponents and when they do, they are usually paired either against much stronger or equally low rated opponents so it's hard to raise their ratings. Hence, ratings are inconclusive as indicators of their actual strength. If that's valid reasoning, why doesn't FIDE give every player who is in a similar situation a title?
Mutesi was born in Uganda in1996. Her rating is listed as being1774 and her last tournament appears to have been at the Women’s Olympiad that was held in Batumi, Georgia in 2018. She graduated from college in 2021, with a bachelor's degree in business administration and management. According to Google’s AI report she is living ans working in Canada.
Her opponent in the following exciting game was Amein Milani (born 1996), a Women’s Candidate Master from Tunisia. She does not have a standard raring, but her rapid rating is 1705. While not especially well played, the game was interesting and it did have its moments of brilliance.
[Event "Olympiad (Women), Baku"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Phiona Mutesi"]
[Black "Amen Miladi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 19"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1622"]
[BlackElo "1491"]
[WhiteFideId "-1"]
[BlackFideId "-1"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[GameId "2360085585621079"]
[EventDate "1893.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2026.09.29"]
{B23: Closed Sicilian: Lines without g3} 1. e4 c5 2. f4 {the Grand Prix Attack.} e6 {According to many experts black's best reply is 2...d5 and if 3.exd5 Nf6 (the Tal Gambit) with good play for black. As a result, white started playing 2.Nc3 first. Miladi's move is a less common option that dates back to the days of La Bourdonnais in the 1830s.} 3. d3 (3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb5 {is the main line.}) 3... d5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bd2 (6. g3 Be7 7. Bg2 b5 8. O-O {Manhardt,T (2240)-Petschar,K (2266) Feffernitz AUT 2015. Black has more play.}) 6... a6 (6... b6 7. e5 Ng8 8. g3 Nge7 9. Bg2 Nf5 10. O-O h5 {Black's position is the more active. Hartoch,R (2390)-Van der Wiel,J (2520) Amsterdam 1982}) (6... Be7 {This is the most often seen move.} 7. g3 a6 8. e5 Nd7 9. Bg2 b5 {equals. Hort,V (2575)-Wirthensohn,H (2420) Biel 1981}) 7. e5 {This is not bad, but 7.g3 with a Closed Sicilian is more usual.} Nd7 8. Be2 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Rb1 {Evidently she intended to stymie black’s Q-side advance with the followup a3 and b4. The position of the B on d2 hinders white from any forceful action. The only other reasonable move is 10.Qe1 hoping to support the advance of the e-Pawn.} b5 11. a3 Qb6 {Preventing white’s planned b4.} 12. Kh1 a5 {Black plans ...b4} 13. Qe1 b4 14. axb4 axb4 15. Nd1 {[%mdl 32]} Ba6 {This move is designed to help support the advance of the c-Pawn. It’s clear that black has come out of the opening well because her Q-side P-structure and active pieces give her good prospects. This does not mean she is in no danger because her K-side lacks support by her pieces as can be seen when her position soon deteriorates.} 16. Nf2 Bb5 {This move is by no means bad, but perhaps countering in the center with 16...f6 would have proved better in the long run.} 17. Ng4 {After this once the Q reaches g3 white has some threats against black’s K. A better plan was bringing thje N over to the K-side via e7 and so 17...Bd8 was good.} h5 {This takes measures against Qg3, but this creates a weakening of black’s K-side which she will shortly regret.} 18. Nf2 Ra2 19. Nh3 $16 c4 20. Nfg5 cxd3 21. cxd3 {Black should now play 21...Qd4 attacking the b-Pawn. Instead she walks into a pin.} Nd4 22. Be3 Bc5 {This breaks the pin, but at this point black is lost.} 23. Qh4 $1 {It's clear that black is in serious difficulty; there are no pieces available with which she can defend her K.} g6 (23... Nxe2 $2 {is met by} 24. Qxh5 {Threatening mate on h7} Rc8 25. Qxf7+ Kh8 26. Bxc5 Nxc5 27. f5 Ra7 28. Qh5+ Kg8 29. Qh7+ Kf8 30. Qh8+ {White is winning.}) 24. Bxd4 Bxd4 {[%mdl 32]} 25. Bxh5 $1 {[%mdl 512]} Kg7 26. Qg3 Rh8 (26... gxh5 27. Nxe6+ Kh8 28. Qg7#) 27. Be2 {Missing the win and allowing black to equalize.} (27. Nxf7 {results in a winning position after} Rxh5 28. Nd6 {Black has a small material advantage, but white's pieces are in dominating positions. It's hartd to fault Mutesi for not going into this line because it's hard to evaluate and there is no forced win. The best continuation is} Ra8 29. Rbe1 Rah8 30. f5 exf5 31. e6 Nf6 32. Nxb5 Bc5 33. Rc1 Qxb5 34. Qc7+ Kh6 35. Rxc5 Qxd3 36. Qf4+ g5 37. Qxf5 Qxf5 38. Rxf5 Kg6 39. Re5 Ra8 40. Rc1 Re8 41. Rc6 Re7 42. Rb6 d4 43. Kg1 d3 44. Rd6 Ng4 45. Red5 {White is winning, but nobody is going to calculate all of this!}) 27... Bxb2 {This position is dead equal, but the complications are enormous! White has two good continuatuions.} 28. Qg4 {This should have allowed black to gain the advantage with the unlikely looking 28...Bc3!} (28. Bd1 {A non-human move!} Qd4 29. Nxf7 Qxd3 30. Bf3 Kxf7 31. Ng5+ Ke7 32. Nxe6 Qf5 33. Ng7 Qf7 34. Rfd1 Bc4 35. e6 Qxg7 36. exd7 Bd4 37. Rxb4 Rd8 38. Bxd5 Bxd5 39. Qg5+ Kd6 40. Rb6+ Bxb6 41. Qxd5+ Kc7 42. Qxa2 Rxd7 43. Rxd7+ Qxd7 44. Qc4+ {This is a draw.}) (28. Bg4 Bc3 29. f5 Bxe5 30. f6+ Bxf6 31. Bxe6 Ra3 32. Nf4 Bxd3 33. Nxd3 fxe6 34. Rxf6 Kxf6 35. Qf4+ Ke7 36. Qf7+ Kd8 37. Qxg6 Kc8 38. Nxb4 Qc7 39. h3 Rc3 40. Nd3 Qg3 41. Qg7 Rxh3+ 42. gxh3 Qxd3 43. Ra1 Qe3 44. h4 Rc1+ 45. Rxc1+ Qxc1+ 46. Kh2 Qf4+ {Draw!}) 28... Qa6 (28... Bc3 {White's attack has reached a standstill and now it's black's piece that are in dominating positions.} 29. Rbc1 Rd2 30. Rfd1 (30. Nf2 Ra2 31. Nd1 Bd2 32. Rb1 Nc5 {White's attack has been beaten off and black has established a winning position.}) 30... Rxd1+ 31. Rxd1 b3 {This passer decides the game in black's favor.}) 29. Rfd1 $2 {Mutesi has overestimated the strength of her opponent's threat.} (29. f5 $1 {was the only good move.} exf5 30. Rxf5 Nxe5 31. Rxf7+ Nxf7 32. Ne6+ Kf6 33. Rf1+ Ke7 34. Nhf4 Kd6 $1 {The only good move.} 35. Nxg6 {The complications are unfathomable!}) 29... Nc5 30. Qf3 $2 {This should have lost!} (30. f5 exf5 31. Qxb4 Ba3 32. Qxb5 Qxb5 33. Rxb5 Rxe2 {is fully equal.}) 30... Bc3 $1 {The threat is 31...Rxe2 followed by ...Bxd3 forking the Q and R} 31. Ng1 Ra8 32. Qh3 Rh8 33. Qe3 d4 34. Qg3 Ba4 (34... Rxe2 {secures the win.} 35. Nxe2 Bxd3 36. Rxd3 Qxd3 37. Qxd3 Nxd3 {and black's passed Ps are a winning advantage.}) 35. Rf1 {[%mdl 32] Milandi now fails to realize the grave danger she is in.} Bc2 $4 {[%mdl 8192]} (35... Kf8 36. h3 (36. f5 {This is no longer a threat.} gxf5 $3 {Much better than 36...gxf5} 37. h3 Bc2 {Black is winning/}) 36... b3 {is winning for black.}) 36. f5 $3 {Crushing.} Bxb1 37. fxe6 {Not that ot matters. but 37.Fxg6 leads to a mate in 12.} Nxe6 38. Rxf7+ Kg8 39. Rf6 Rxe2 40. Nxe6 {Black resigned. A very difficult game for both sides.} 1-0
