Congratulations to Phiona Mutesi for winning the WCM title. She and WCM Ivy Claire Amoko are the first women in Uganda to have won FIDE titles.

She was born in Katwe, one of the most squalid slums in Africa. To call that a village makes about as much sense as calling Smoky Mountain a village. She and her family had to move several times within the slum as their belongings were constantly being stolen, a common occurrence in such places, so the sense of community that binds villages was almost entirely absent in the scrabble for survival.

People there were, and most likely still are, too concerned with the day to day basics of survival to worry about trivialities like birthdates or even birth years.

During her visit, Mutesi rarely talked chess strategy. The high school students, some of whom play on the school's chess team, got wide-eyed when she told them she played Garry Kasparov, one of the greatest players of all time.

"Were you scared?" a student asked her about the hour long match she ultimately lost.

"No," Mutesi said, smiling. "I wasn't scared. I was so happy."

Much of Mutesi's visit focused on how students could use chess to improve their lives. The game teaches decision-making, endurance, and problem-solving.