Friday, April 3, 2015 My favourite book: Life lessons from unlikely heroines of the chess board

Oscar winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, Indian film maker Mira Nair and Ugandan national chess champion Phiona Mutesi pose in Kampala on March 28, 2015. Mutesi's tale of triumph over adversity is being turned into a Hollywood epic called 'Queen of Katwe', with Oscar-winning Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o tipped to play her mother. PHOTO | AFP 

In Summary

• The Joy Luck Club is the story of a Chinese girl growing up in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
• At an annual church Christmas party, Waverly receives a present she would later exchange with her brother for a chess set.
• However, her curious determination to untangle the secrets hidden in the chess board meets with curt replies from her brothers.

By Joel Reyia

Phiona Mutesi, the Ugandan slum girl who rose to become chess star, parallels Waverley Place Jong, the narrator in Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club.

Both are young, gifted girls who capitalise on their invisible strengths to prosper in the male-dominated realm of chess.

Brought up in a single parent household in the Katwe slum of Kampala, Mutesi had to give up schooling at six years of age because of lack of school fees.

At nine, she was drawn to a chess program in a church because it enticed potential players with a free cup of porridge.

She frequented the place and her talent soon showed in a game then still largely considered a preserve of the rich.

This has seen her proceed to international tournaments and meet grandmasters such as the Russian Garry Kasparov.

The Joy Luck Club is the story of a Chinese girl growing up in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

At an annual church Christmas party, Waverly receives a present she would later exchange with her brother for a chess set.

However, her curious determination to untangle the secrets hidden in the chess board meets with curt replies from her brothers.

When she asks why the pawns can only move forward one step, except on the first move, Vincent tells her, ‘because they are pawns.’ Their mother challenges her to find out the “whys” for herself.

She borrows books from the Chinatown library and looks up the big words in the dictionary.

BOOK UNLOCKS HER POTENTIAL

The books unlock her potential, but just when she loses no more games, she loses her adversaries.

Probably angered by falling to their ‘little sister,’ as they called her, Vincent and Winston takes to roaming the streets after school.

One would probably expect her to abandon chess, but Waverly is not one to give up easily.

She juggles between her studies, doing the dishes and chess, with any extra time given over to learning new chess secrets and more escape routes.

Every night, she fights imaginary battles in her mind as she stares at a handmade chessboard she had drawn and pinned to the wall next to her bed.

Then one day she chances upon Lau Po, who turns out to be a much better player. From him, she learns the fine points of chess etiquette.

Lau also teaches her the ‘sudden meeting of the clan,’ ‘the humble servant who kills the king,’ ‘a double killing without blood,’ ‘the surprise from the sleeping guard’ and many other tricks. She likes the fact that chess involves planning, something Mutesi also acknowledged in an interview.

That the player with the clearest plans wins. In fact, if you could visualize the end game before touching a king, you are better off.

Her determination pays off. Soon she is participating in outdoor exhibition games, before she joins local chess tournaments. And she is cut out for even greater things. By her ninth birthday, much the same age Mutesi’s skills became evident, she is a national chess champion and only a few points shy of the grandmaster status.

She is touted as a child prodigy and her photo is run in the Life magazine. Mutesi has also had her share of fame.

The book Queen of Katwe by American writer Tim Crothers is a chronicle of her epic. The book is set to be turned into a movie with Oscar-winning Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o tipped to play her mother.

Behind the triumph of each one of them is strong support from a loving mother.

Widowed by Aids, Mutesi’s mother had to toil to fend for her family. Waverly’s mother also comes across as a hardworking woman. The great skill possessed by her only daughter does not escape her keen eye.

Consequently, she not only exempts her from domestic chores to allow her practice, but also makes many other concessions.

Like relocating the boys to the living room to afford her some peace. Besides, she is the protective ally. She accompanies her to tournaments where she meets conceited boys who wrinkle their noses on seeing her. Waverly emerges victorious in each division.

Much as she is proud of Waverly, mother nonetheless does not pamper her when she does wrong.

The day Waverly throws a tantrum and runs away, only showing up after dinner, she is very cross with her. In her Chinese-American accent she says: “We not concerning this girl. This girl not have concerning for us.” And she’s sure to punish her.

Drawing on her Chinese background, Tan succeeds in creating unforgettable characters and weaving so deftly the young girl’s steps to victory.

Joel Reyia is an Economics student at Kenyatta University