It’s the 19th day of April, 2024. 5.00 pm, Nigerian time, 10.00 a.m. in New York. It is now almost 2 days, over 48 hours since Tunde Onakoya officially kicked off his bid at Times Square in New York City to set a Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
Tunde had set a target of 58 hours for this bid, with the aim of surpassing the current record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds achieved by Hallvard Haug Flatebo and Shut Ferkingstad in Norway on November, 2018.
Having officially started on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, (10 a.m. New York time), he is attempting to conclude this mission on Friday, April 19, 2024, (8:00 p.m. New York time). That is, less than 10 hours from now.
Alongside with him on this mission is the American Shawn Martinez, who is a National Master, just like Tunde is. Shawn is said to be a New York City chess legend and chess coach. He is Coach to Tani Adewumi, the young Nigerian boy in US, who
who won the New York State K-3 Championship at only eight years old and last year became a national master (NM) at the age of 10.
Tunde and Shawn are in this together because it is a requirement that the record must be attempted by a team of 2 players and the same players must play against each other for the same duration, without interruption, except for the allowed periods of break.
The purpose of the Guinness World Record attempt by Tunde is to raise $1,000,000 to empower more children across Africa through the works they being done through Chess in Slums Africa, of which Tunde is the convener and the gift of chess.
“Our goal is to donate one million chess sets globally, using chess as a simple tool to expand opportunities & connect us across society,” Tunde has said.
As at 3 pm today, So far, they have played 170 games. They are tired, but are determined to keep going. Over $60,000 has been raised so far, which is quite a far cry from the $1,000,000 target. But whatever it is, however it goes, they break the record or choose to take a break, they are winners. They have definitely made history.
It is incredible what Tunde has been able to achieve. Not the feat of having been at this at New York Times Square for this length of time, but what he has done over the years with the Chess in Slums Africa (CISA) project, taking something as little as the game of chess, and turning it into a hugely useful weapon with which he has touched and changed lives of young kids, some born into circumstances that summarily held them bound to a life chained down by poverty in the slum of Makoko slum and others forced onto the streets, condemned to life ‘under the bridge’ at Osodi in Lagos.
You look at Tunde and you wonder where this 29 year old man of such slight frame gets his strength from. Take the bid for the record itself, whereas all that it requires is uninterrupted play with the opponent, win or lose, but Tunde has set out with the desire not to lose any game over the 58-hour period.
Like many others, I have followed his journey starting with the Makoko project, from the distance, for a long time. What is most striking about him is his unquenchable ‘can-do’ spirit. It is the way the fire lights up in his eyes, talking about his dreams. It is about how he is quick to take on one more leg of the dream, only one moment after accomplishing one incredible feat.
3 months back, it was him, in Germany, playing a simultaneous chess match against 10 players at once and winning all 10 games after almost 2 hours of battle. He wouldn’t let that sink in before embarking on this record-setting bid.
What a remarkable young man. So focused and driven, with a heart panting to make impact and touch lives, without a thought for the odds. He had won accolades for his work at Makoko. Through him we had gotten to know about Ferdinand, the miracle child, the prodigy with cerebral palsy.
Like many of us, Tunde had cause to drive through Osodi sometime in July, 2021. His thoughts, as recorded on July 5, 2021:
“Drove past oshodi underbridge a couple of days ago and saw a couple of teenage boys with heavily scarred faces, smoking Indian hemp- We all know that story.
Beyond that, I couldn’t help but picture them in a three piece suit playing chess.
Next project maybe?
…There are obvious security risks involved in taking on a project like this, but I’m more concerned about hearing their own side of the story and teaching them chess as a way to help them find a more positive avenue to express themselves.
…It’s easy to judge them by their choices without taking into cognisance the quality of options they had.
This is why it is still important to humanize “Societal villains “, because given a much different circumstance, anyone of us could have ended up in the same exact situation.
…Will probably need to partner with another organization that is more Juvenile focused and can help get them off the streets and engage them with Vocational skills to enable them earn a proper living.
…These are just random thoughts by the way, and it’s not something we can do anytime soon as we’re still a bit overstretched by the Makoko project. But the more I think about it, the more I really want to do this.
Difficult, but possible.”
Difficult, but possible, he said. Tunde soon set out with a plan of action. By September, work started with his first visit, out to earn the trust of the boys. By December of that year, so much progress had been made. He now had 51 homeless kids who had now become family. We got to know about Fawaz, the 18 year old Champion. Only recently, I got to read about Ayomide, one of the boys who until 2022 was just another of the homeless street kids who lived under the bridge, working as a Bus conductor, who has now become a Front end Developer.
Such is the impact Tunde has made with this project that Patrice Evra, the French Football player on a visit to Nigeria 2 years back, was at Osodi underbridge to playing chess with the kids. Tunde had succeeded in turning Osodi underbridge, which many Lagosians will rather not venture into, out of fear, into a strong enough attraction for foreign VIPs to visit.
Difficult, but possible. “It is possible to do great things from a small place”, Tunde Onakoya says. He has surely done great things from a really small place. He has put Nigeria on the world map in a positive way. It did feel good to hear Nigerian music on a marathon at Times Square as the marathon run of games between the two went on and on.
It is great to see the support that has come for him and his cause from around the world, with words of encouragement coming from President Tinubu, VP Kashim Shettima, Governor Sanwoolu and immediate past Vice President, Prof Yemi Osibanjo, who has always been his cheerleader. Good to see Nigerians rallying support for Tunde at Times Square. Great to see Davido and Adekunle Gold pay solidarity visit.
The story of Tunde Onakoya is, every bit, phenomenal. His vision
of using the chess game “to help children in slum communities realize their full potential by integrating principles of the game with the management of daily challenges in life, enhancing abstract thinking, creativity, and innovation” is one that we have seen him prove as valid and practicable.
We must rally around Tunde to help him achieve his dream, not just this one, but even bigger ones he has shared, including that of building the biggest chess academy in the world.
Tunde is a great Nigerian. A worthy Ambassador.
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