NIGERIA’S TUNDE ONAKOYA SETS 60-HOUR NONSTOP CHESS RECORD TO RAISE MONEY FOR UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN

Sun 21 April 2024:

Tunde Onakoya, a Nigerian chess champion broke the world record for the longest chess marathon by going unbeaten for more than 58 hours in Times Square, New York City, to raise funds for needy children.

Onakoya, 29, began his marathon session on Wednesday, intending to earn $1 million for children’s education across Africa with the record attempt.

Following Onakoya’s attempt, the Guinness World Records organization has not yet made a public statement. Weeks may pass before the organization verifies a new record.

Onakoya had set out to play the royal game for 58 hours but continued until he reached 60 hours at about 12:40am (04:40GMT) on Saturday, surpassing the current chess marathon record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds, achieved in 2018 by Norwegians Hallvard Haug Flatebo and Sjur Ferkingstad.

“I can’t process a lot of the emotions I feel right now. I don’t have the right words for them. But I know we did something truly remarkable,” he told the AFP news agency.

“[At] 3am last night, that was the moment I was ready to just give it all up… but Nigerians travelled from all over the world. And they were with me overnight,” he continued.

“We were singing together and they were dancing together and I couldn’t just give up on them.”

Onakoya played against Shawn Martinez, an American chess champion, in line with Guinness World Records guidelines that any attempt to break the record must be made by two players who would play continuously for the entire duration.

Only five minutes were given to Onakoya and his opponent to rest for every hour of gameplay.

In 2018, Onakoya—who is well-known in Nigeria—started the Chess in Slums project in Ikorodu, a neighborhood outside of Lagos.

The organization provides a chess learning environment for marginalized youth, many of whom labor to support their families and are not enrolled in school.

The country in West Africa has one of the highest rates of school dropout rates in the world, with over 10 million school-age children not attending school.

Within the first 20 hours of the attempt, $22,000 was raised in total, according to Onakoya’s manager Taiwo Adeyemi. “The support has been overwhelming from Nigerians in the US, global leaders, celebrities and hundreds of passersby,” he said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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