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A 10-year-old Nigerian refugee living in New York recently became one of America’s youngest chess masters.
Tanitoluwa Adewumi competed at the Fairfield County Chess Club Championship tournament in Connecticut on May 1, and bumped his chess rating up to 2223, the United States Chess Federation reported this month. A rating of 2200 is required to gain the chess master title.
“I was very happy that I won and that I got the title,”Adewumi said. “I really love that I finally got it.”
Adewumi first garnered national attention more than two years ago when he won his category at the New York State chess championship in 2019. A the time, Adewumi, then 8 years old, was living at homeless shelter in Manhattan.
The Nigerian refugee became the 28th youngest person in the U.S. to earn the title.
Published 16 hours ago
Written by Paul Meara
Tanitoluwa “Tani” Adewumi became the 28th youngest person in the country to achieve the title of National Chess Master on May 1.
Per the U.S. Chess Federation, the 10-year-old achieved the highest ranking in chess after he and his family fled Nigeria and moved out of a New York City homeless shelter. During an interview with
NPR, Tani said, I was very happy that I won and that I got the title. I really love that I finally got it.
Tanitoluwa Adewumi overcomes homelessness to become chess master
His family has gotten young Adewumi a coach to help him reach his goal of becoming youngest chess grandmaster ever.
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Tanitoluwa Adewumi, at 10 years old, has become America’s newest national chess master, the 28th youngest person to achieve the status, according to the U.S. Chess Federation.
However, one of the most inspirational aspects of Adewumi’s story is that he once lived in a homeless shelter. His family left northern Nigeria in 2017 and, upon moving to New York, lived in the Manhattan-based shelter, and the boy learned to play chess at school.
First Published: 9:53 AM PDT, May 13, 2021
Tanitoluwa Tani Adewumi told NPR he practices chess every day after school for 10 to 11 hours.
A 10-year-old Nigerian refugee who was one homeless in New York City, has become one of the youngest chess players crowned national champion, People reported.
On May 1, Tanitoluwa Tani Adewumi became the 28th youngest person in the country to win the title, telling NPR, “I was very happy that I won and that I got the title. I really love that I finally got it.
He told the radio station that he plans on becoming the world’s youngest grand master of the game. Adewumi turns 11 this summer and if he secures the grand master honor in the next two years, he will beat out Russian Sergey Karjakin, who won it when he was 12 years and 7 months old in 2002.