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.
From The New York Times to the back cover of El Pais (the largest newspaper in Spain), the story of Tanitoluwa Adewumi has made headlines all over the world: the 8-year-old boy from Nigeria who won the New York State Championship (K-3) while living in a refugee shelter. pic.twitter.com/xHM5KD4mI5
— David Llada ♞ (@davidllada) March 19, 2019
8-year-old homeless refugee takes chess world by storm: "It's deep thinking" https://t.co/cBSA7wlkGL pic.twitter.com/yOhsh3TdyD
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 20, 2019
It even got the attention of former US President Bill Clinton:
“Refugees enrich our nation and talent is universal, even if opportunity is not.”
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) March 19, 2019
This story made me smile. Tanitoluwa, you exemplify a winning spirit – in chess and in life. And kudos to your hardworking parents. You all should stop by my office in Harlem; I'd love to meet you. https://t.co/zKuQg6zJkg
Then came an appearance on the Today Show:
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!
| # | Name | ID | Rtng | Team | Grd | Tot | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tanitoluwa Adewumi | 16649696 | 1473 | P116M | 3 | 5½ | First Place! |
| 2 | Jack Faissal | 16250210 | 1470 | NEST | 2 | 5 | Second Place |
| 3 | Avaan Chamadia | 15907570 | 1711 | P11M | 3 | 5 | Third Place |
| 4 | Colin Dean | 15867091 | 1468 | BRUNS | 3 | 5 | Fourth Place |
| 5 | Oliver Boydell | 15727933 | 1599 | SPEYR | 3 | 5 | Fifth Place |
| 6 | Michael Li | 16125800 | 1425 | CANES | 3 | 5 | Sixth Place |
| 7 | Jasper Ho | 16038265 | 1607 | SPEYR | 3 | 4½ | Seventh Place |
| 8 | Henry Nieuwerburgh | 16089188 | 1171 | DALTN | 2 | 4½ | Eighth Place |
| 9 | Aliana Fausto | 16089084 | 1504 | P77M | 3 | 4½ | Ninth Place |
| 10 | Yunqi Liu | 16970580 | 1350 | CIMF | 3 | 4 | Tenth Place |
New York State Primary Championship Standings
BBC News report, March 20th
