Homeless immigrant family finds a home thanks to chess

'Tani' has a home, and a bright future

It all started with a Sunday opinion column in the March 16th edition of the New York Times. A story about an 8-year-old Nigerian refugee who was living with his family in a homeless shelter and just returned from the New York State Scholastic Chess Championship, in Saratoga Springs, NY, with a trophy "almost as big as he is". Tanitoluwa Adewumi ('Tani' for short) is a third grader who won the "Primary Championship" with a score of 5½/6.

What's most remarkable about this result is that he learned to play chess and played his first rated tournament just one year ago. The Adewumi family fled Nigeria fearing attacks on Christians by members of the Boko Haram terrorist group and sought asylum in New York in 2017. While living in the homeless shelger, Tani enrolled in a local public school where a part-time chess teacher taught him how to play. Since then, by playing almost a tournament per week (on average), his USCF rating has climbed from 105 — after his first outing in the "Under 300" section — to 1534 as of last week. That puts him among the top 20 players age 8 or below in the USA.

He told The Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, "I want to be the youngest grandmaster".

The Adewumi family | Photo: "Just Tani" GoFundMe page

What happened next is truly extraordinary. A GoFundMe campaign was set up for the family by Russel Makofsky, who oversaw the chess program at Tani's elementary school, and it was linked by The Times with an initial goal meeting the family's immediate housing needs. Within two days the campaign's goal was increased to $50,000 following the overwhelming response from the public. Then the story really took off.

It even got the attention of former US President Bill Clinton:

Then came an appearance on the Today Show: 

Unorthodox Chess Openings

How many times have you been caught off guard by a seemingly inferior and unusual opening system that later turns out to be an especially strong one? Unorthodox openings can be a real asset to anyone’s opening repertoire and they often do not contain much theory, making them easy to master for your next important tournament.

1.e4 f5? 2.exf5 g5 3.Qh5# reverse Fool's Mate on NBC's Today Show, March 19th, 2019

One donor who heard his story offered the family a rent-free apartment for a year near Tani's school, reports Kristof in a follow up column for The Times.

Currently the GoFundMe campaign is nearing $250,000 and growing at a steady clip. But the family is not planning to keep the money, according to the paper:

The Adewumis have decided that they will not spend a cent of the $200,000 GoFundMe money on themselves. They will take out a 10 percent tithe and donate it to their church, which helped them while they were homeless, and the rest will be channeled through a new Tanitoluwa Adewumi Foundation to help African immigrants who are struggling in the United States the way they were a week ago.

Below is one (partial) game from the NY State tournament. At his current rate of progress we should be hearing more about this boy soon!

Final standings (top 10)

New York State Primary Championship Standings

Fritz and Chesster - Learn to Play Chess

Learn to think strategically, try out tricky mental exercises and master fun and exciting challenges – all with a generous helping of chess knowledge.

BBC News report, March 20th

Links

• This 8-Year-Old Chess Champion Will Make You Smile (NY Times)
• Tani Wins at NYS Scholastic Championships (USChess.org)
• Homeless chess champion from Nigeria 'gets apartment' after crowdfund (BBC)
• Our Chess Champion Has a Home (NY Times)
• Just Tani (GoFundMe page)