This Eight-Year-Old Nigerian Boy Just Became A Chess Champion In New York

When Tanitoluwa Adewumi’s mother signed him up for chess, she was merely fulfilling a requirement that he must be in one of the school’s clubs. Well, that choice just led to the eight-year-old winning the ‘Kindergarten through Third Grade’ category in the New York State Chess Championship.

(Photo: Christopher Lee)

New York Times reports that Adewumi and his family left Nigeria for the US because of Boko Haram attacks. They’ve been living in a homeless shelter since arriving in the country, but this didn’t stop him from putting in his best when he was introduced to chess a year ago.

In his first-ever competition, he got the lowest rating of any participant. By training three hours every day, he got so grounded in the game that when he entered the state-wide competition, he floored kids from elite private schools – catapulting his rating to 1587.

Speaking with BBC about what his plans for the future, he said:

“I want to achieve being the youngest grandmaster in the world and breaking the world championship record.”

With this diligence and commitment, we’re positive it won’t take too long before he achieves all that.

(Photo: NBC News)