A Christian refugee who fled Nigeria to escape Boko Haram in 2017 becomes the newest American Chess Master at the age of 10.
The Christian Post (CP) reported that Tanitoluwa Adewumi defeated an international chess master and a national chess master on May 1 to gain the title of America's youngest and newest chess master. Per the U.S. Chess Federation, Adewumi is the 28th youngest person to achieve that rank being "10 years, seven months and 28 days" old.
"Congratulations to Tanitoluwa 'Tani' Adewumi, who broke the 2200 barrier this weekend at the Fairfield County Chess Club Championship tournament, becoming America's newest national master," the US Chess Federation said in its website.
According to the US Chess Federation, Adewumi won the 4-round championship sponsored by the Fairfield County Chess that was held in Norwalk, Connecticut with the highest score of 4 points over 20 contenders in the game. Adewumi dethroned IM Abhi Mishra that held the honor of being the youngest person to make the masters for "nine years, two months, and 17 days."
Adewumi "sprung into national prominence in 2019" after author Nicholas Kristof made a feature write-up on him since the young chess whiz, back then, "won the New York K-3 scholastic championship" despite being a homeless youth. The Federation said Adewumi's talent has blossomed since because of his "hard work" that led him to become a part of the Saint Louis Chess Club.
Kristof tweeted about Adewumi on May 2 and praised him for his winning the National Chess Master. He also pointed out the importance of refugees to a country and the need to support and help them.
"Remember Tani Adewumi, the Nigerian refugee kid I wrote about 2 years ago who won the NY State chess championship while in a homeless shelter? Now well housed (thanks to you readers!), he just won a championship and is officially a National Chess Master as a 10-yr-old 5th grader!" Kristof said in Twitter.
"Tani is a reminder: Talent is universal, but opportunity is not. He was lucky that his homeless shelter was near a school with a chess program. It waived the chess club fees for him. He's also a reminder that refugees enrich our country (I say that as the son of a refugee)," he stressed.
Kristof shared in a succeeding post the stories he wrote on Adewumi in 2019 that were published in the New York Times, which included his call to readers to help provide him housing. Kristoff pointed out the "tremendous" chess rating Adewumi had after winning the championship in Fairfield, which is 2223.
Adewumi's father, Kayode, announced his victory in Facebook attributing it to God.
"OUR GOD HAS DONE IT AGAIN TODAY. TANITOLUWA WON CHESS CLUB OF FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT CHAMPIONSHIP," Kayode said.
The proud father also included photos of his son receiving his trophies for the championship.
OUR GOD HAS DONE IT AGAIN TODAY. TANITOLUWA WON CHESS CLUB OF FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT CHAMPIONSHIP.
Posted by Kayode Adewumi on Saturday, May 1, 2021
CP added that since his family moved out of the homeless shelter, the young Adewumi's life has changed such that, besides winning numerous awards on chess tournaments, he has also become an author of a book about his life entitled, "My Name Is Tani...and I Believe In Miracles: The Amazing True Story Of One Boy's Journey From Refugee To Chess Championship."
The book, available in Amazon, is regarded as the "#1 Best Seller In Chess" and is rated 4.5 stars. It tells the flight of Adewumi's family from Nigeria, to escape the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, to America, where they survived thanks to odd jobs. It also shares the story of how he ended up joining the public school's chess club.
