Eight-year-old Nigerian refugee Tanitoluwa Adewumi won the annual New York State Chess Championship at his age.
The boy, who lives with his parents and older brother in a homeless shelter, only learned to play last year. Nonetheless, in the competition, Adewumi outperformed her age group rivals despite many of them having personal trainers.
After the victory, the young Nigerian told reporters that he had two dreams: the first is to become the youngest grandmaster in the world, the second is to get permission to stay in the United States for himself and his family. .
The Adewumi family, who profess Christianity, fled Nigeria, fearing reprisals from Islamist terrorists from the local group Boko Haram, whose leaders have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. At the New York school PS116, where the boy goes, he was allowed to take lessons at the chess club for free.
“He solves ten times more problems than the other guys and is constantly striving to improve. Climbing to such a high level in just one year – I’ve never seen anything like this,” the club teacher said.
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