Homeless 8-Year-Old, Refugee Wins NY Chess Championship

An 8-year-old Nigerian refugee whose family is homeless recently won first place at the New York State chess championship without a single defeat and he says he is not done yet.

“I like deep-thinking,” Tanitoluwa Adewumi said.

Tanitoluwa is a third-grader who started playing chess a year ago and whose coach at PS 116 said practices the board game every single day for hours on his own.

“He smiled every time he did anything on the board or learned something new,” Shawn Martinez said. “I could just tell this game was for him.”

Tanitoluwa moved to New York City with his family two years ago as refugees from Nigeria. They have been living in a shelter and his parents say he can only practice the game on the floor.

Tanitoluwa won the championship for his age group and took home a big trophy to prove it.

“His eyes lit up,” Martinez said.

Tanitoluwa will now prepare for the national championship in May.

“I want to be the youngest grandmaster in the world,” Tanitoluwa said.

Photo Credit: News 4

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