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04/19 21:47 CDT A Nigerian chess champion plays the royal game for 58 hours ---
a new global chess record
A Nigerian chess champion plays the royal game for 58 hours --- a new global
chess record
By CHINEU ASADU and JOHN MINCHILLO
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) --- A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate has
played chess nonstop for 58 hours in New York City's Times Square to break the
Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
Tunde Onakoya, 29, hopes to raise $1 million for children's education across
Africa through the record attempt that began on Wednesday.
He crossed the 58-hour mark at about 02:30 a.m. GMT Saturday, surpassing the
current chess marathon record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds, achieved
in 2018 by Hallvard Haug Flatebo and Sjur Ferkingstad, both from Norway.
The Guinness World Record organization has yet to publicly comment about
Onakoya's attempt. It sometimes takes weeks for the organization to confirm any
new record.
Onakoya played against Shawn Martinez, an American chess champion, in line with
Guinness World Record guidelines that any attempt to break the record must be
made by two players who would play continuously for the entire duration.
Support had been growing online and at the scene, where a blend of African
music kept onlookers and supporters entertained amid cheers and applause.
The record attempt is "for the dreams of millions of children across Africa
without access to education," said Onakoya, who founded Chess in Slums Africa
in 2018. The organization wants to support the education of at least 1 million
children in slums across the continent.
"My energy is at 100% right now because my people are here supporting me with
music," Onakoya said Thursday evening after the players crossed the 24-hour
mark.
On Onakoya's menu: Lots of water and jollof rice, one of West Africa's
best-known dishes.
For every hour of game played, Onakoya and his opponent got only five minutes'
break. The breaks were sometimes grouped together, and Onakoya used them to
catch up with Nigerians and New Yorkers cheering him on. He even joined in with
their dancing sometimes.
A total of $22,000 was raised within the first 20 hours of the attempt, said
Taiwo Adeyemi, Onakoya's manager.
"The support has been overwhelming from Nigerians in the U.S., global leaders,
celebrities and hundreds of passersby," he said.
Onakoya's attempt was closely followed in Nigeria, where he regularly organizes
chess competitions for young people living on the streets.
More than 10 million children are out of school in the West African country ---
one of the world's highest rates.
Among those who have publicly supported him are celebrities and public office
holders, including Nigeria's former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who wrote to
Onakoya on the social media platform X, "Remember your own powerful words: 'It
is possible to do great things from a small place.'"
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This version corrects that Osinbajo is Nigeria's former vice president, not
current vice president.
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Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria.
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