Tanitoluwa Adewumi, a 10-year-old Nigerian boy who lives in New York, is now officially a USA National Chess Master.
This is a great feat for the boy who won the New York State chess championship at the time he was living in a homeless shelter. It was learned that he was just 8 years old at the time of the win.
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Adewumi just recently won his latest championship by earning a chess rating of 2223. This achievement was just 2 years after he gained fame for winning the USA National State chess championship. It was learned that he learned chess just a year after he and his family arrived in the USA in 2017 after fleeing from Nigeria due to fears of terrorist attacks.
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In their first years in the USA, Adewunmi’s family was living in a homeless shelter near a school where there was a chess program. A GoFundMe fundraiser was launched and eventually raised $254,000 when many people learned about his situation. This helped them move to a better home where they now live in.