Sports news at the moment is dominated by American Football playoffs and world football (soccer) Cup matches.

We at USDemocrazy recently stumbled upon this great article on a different kind of competition.  ESPN’s magazine has written about a 14-year-old girl in Uganda who has an inspiring story thanks to her talents…

in chess.

Phiona Mutesi is an instinctual chess player. In a matter of months, she went from learning the game to beating her instructor, to training to compete on an international level. The article follows Phiona’s competition at the world-wide Olympiad of chess (in Siberia, far removed from her home in the slums in Uganda) and details the obstacles she had to overcome to get there.

After winning at Africa’s International Chess Tournament in Sudan, Phiona and her teammates returned to Uganda. The reality of being a chess star from a disadvantaged part of the world is described:

As Phiona left the celebration headed for her home that night, someone excitedly asked her, “What is the first thing you’re going to say to your mother?”

“I need to ask her,” Phiona said, “Do we have enough food for breakfast?”

Check out Phiona’s story here.