Robert Katende

[1][2][3] He is also known for mentoring Phiona Mutesi, Uganda's first woman candidate master chess player[4][5] and the subject of a 2012 book by Tim Crothers and a 2016 film, Queen of Katwe, directed by Mira Nair and written by William Wheeler.

David Oyelowo played the role of Robert Katende in the film, which also features Lupita Nyong'o and Madina Nalwanga.

He took up soccer and later played professionally for Miracle football club, Top TV FC, and sports outreach ambassadors.

[2] His requests were turned down several times because the kids weren't part of an actual school, but after much insistence, his team was allowed but only as guests in the tournament in 2005.

[2] He is the founder and director of a non profit school; SOM chess academy that has branches in several communities with the aim of uplifting slum children's lives.

[22] In 2019, Katende published A Knight without a Castle describing the difficulties in his childhood and how he decided to use chess as a tool to transform lives.