At first children came for a free bowl of porridge, but many grew to love the game that-like their daily lives-requires persevering against great obstacles. Laying a chessboard in the dirt, Robert began to teach.

Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable dream: to empower kids in the Katwe slum through chess-a game so foreign there is no word for it in their native language. One day in 2005 while searching for food, nine-year-old Ugandan Phiona Mutesi followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende. The “astonishing” ( The New York Times Book Review) and “inspirational” ( Shelf Awareness) true story of Phiona Mutesi-a teenage chess prodigy from the slums of Uganda. Now a major motion picture starring Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong ’ o and David Oyelowo, directed by Mira Nair. Well, fear not! Here are eight reads that are sure to engage your imagination and remind you of everyone’s new chess queen.Īnd if the show inspired you to improve your own chess skills, check out Pandolfini’s Ultimate Guide to Chess by Bruce Pandolfini, a chess strategist for The Queen’s Gambit and America’s foremost chess coach! If you’ve already powered through the entire series, you might be looking for more stories of sharp and inventive women who will inspire and entertain you. But Beth also struggles with addiction, grief, and her inability to connect with others, adding complicated layers to her brilliance. It’s a thrilling tale of a woman, ahead of her time, who wouldn’t let social conventions or other people’s expectations stop her from dominating in the one thing she loved. From there, we watch her meteoric rise to chess infamy as she tackles some of the best players, including the Soviet champion. Netflix’s adaptation of the book by Walter Tevis follows Beth Harmon, an orphan who learns how to play chess in the 1950s.

If you haven’t noticed, everyone’s been talking about, reading about, or actively playing chess-and it’s all to do with The Queen’s Gambit.

Pairing off elizabeth harmon