By Marisela Valero @lavalero
Tanitoluwa Adewumi, a nigerian 10-year-old who live in New York, just became the country’s newest national chess master.
Congratulations to Tanitoluwa «Tani» Adewum.Photo by @NickKristof
According to US Chess, Adewumi won all four of his matches and making him the 28th youngest person to become a chess master At the Fairfield County Chess Club Championship tournament in Connecticut on May 1.
Tani rose to national fame in 2019 when Nicholas Kristof told the story of a homeless youth who won the New York State K-3 school championship. Since then, Tani’s talent continues to stand out. Behind these accomplishments is a hard and consistent daily effort by this champion.
Tani Adewumi was born on September 3, 2010, in Nigeria, of devout Christian parents. Tany has been playing chess for three years. It all started when Adewumi and his family were living in a Manhattan homeless shelter, them, like many in Nigeria, had to flee religious persecution by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
Here is an interview with Tanitoluwa Adewumi by NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly.
Adewumi practices chess «every day» after school for «10, 11 hours» — and still manages to get some sleep.
His hours of practice have paid off. As a chess player, he describes himself as a bit of an every man, «aggressive» or «calm» when he needs to be, and always thinking ahead.
When Tani won the primary school division in 2019 he was living with his family in a homeless shelter.
«On a normal position, I can do up to 20 moves [in advance]», he says. Keeping all of the pieces straight in his head might seem like a challenge but Adewumi says it’s a skill that «when you master, it just keeps coming back.»
Adewumi competes against other chess players at all levels. But his favorite match?
Tany versus Hikaru Nakamura.Photo by @GMHikaru
«I guess Hikaru Nakamura is my favorite person I’ve ever played,» he says. «He’s a grandmaster, a very strong one. He’s on the top of the rankings.»
Nakamura won that match. But Adewumi takes each loss in stride — and there’s always the possibility of a comeback.
«I say to myself that I never lose, that I only learn,» he says. «Because when you lose, you have to make a mistake to lose that game. So you learn from that mistake, and so you learn [overall]. So losing is the way of winning for yourself.»
After the 2019 New York Scholastics a GoFundMe crowdfunding action was started, with the goal of $50,000 for the Adewumi family. It raised $254,000 in ten days, one-tenth of which they donated to the church which had initially helped them, and put the rest into the Tanitoluwa Adewumi Foundation to help other children in similar circumstances.
Champ. Photo https://tanitoluwaadewumifoundation.org
The Tanitoluwa Adewumi Foundation is committed to helping children achieve excellence in learning the game of chess and competing in chess tournaments by providing funding for those in need who cannot afford to do so for themselves.
The benefits of learning chess are monumental in the development of a child’s mind: 1) Develops critical-thinking, 2) problem-solving skills, 3) buildings mathematical abilities, 4) help to develop positive competitiveness, and last, but not least 5) develops intellectual creativity. This skill set will not only help children to succeed in chess, but is transferable to a successful life.
Tani’s dream is to become the youngest ever chess grandmaster.
