Nigerian Chess Master, Tunde Onakoya reclaims Guinness World Record

Nigerian Chess Master Tunde Onakoya, founder of Chess in Slums Africa, has reclaimed the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon after completing a 64-hour session at Times Square, New York. Onakoya and Shawn Martinez, his playing partner, achieved the new record on Sunday.

According to the Guinness World Records, the new record surpassed the previous benchmark of 61 hours, 3 minutes, and 34 seconds, set by Norwegian pair Odin Blikra Vea and Askild Bryn in 2024. With this latest achievement, Tunde Onakoya reclaimed the title and set a new global benchmark.

“We did the impossible and gave the world something new to believe in.

Official record holders of the Longest Chess Marathon for 64 hours. We did it,” Tunde Onakoya said in an X post on Sunday.

While explaining the goal of the marathon after surpassing the 50-hour mark, Tunde Onakoya noted that the marathon is not just for record-breaking but to raise awareness and support for building the largest free school for homeless children in Nigeria. Onakoya had been a child education advocate for years.

“For all the dreamers! We’ve officially broken the record!” he announced in a Sunday X post after breaking the 61-hour record.

Also Read: How Tunde Onakoya is giving underprivileged children “a new narrative” with Chess in Slums.

While the record speaks boldly about his resilience, effort, and contribution towards child advocacy, proceeds from this feat will go directly towards Tunde Onkokoya’s fundraising goal to build a tuition-free school for homeless children. 

The record breaker explained that he had nurtured the dream of changing the world for children in slums. He believed that no child should ever have their childhood sacrificed for survival, and no dream should be buried beneath the weight of poverty.

He wrote: “If you had 70 hours to change the world, what would you do? Sometimes the world won’t hand you 70 hours on a golden platter. Sometimes, you have to carve it out of your breath, your becoming. Not for applause. Not for records. But for the quiet dreamers who need to see someone leap—so they know it’s possible to fly.”

In April 2024, Tunde Onakoya completed a 60-hour chess marathon alongside his U.S. partner, surpassing the 56-hour record previously set in 2018 by Norwegians Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad. He later lost the title to another set of Norwegians two months later. The new record not only signifies reclaiming the title but also setting a new world record.

A win for Naija

At his run of plays, Tunde Onakoya’s victory further reinstates a remarkable statement of Nigeria’s greatness across the globe. From being ranked the number 13 chess player in Nigeria at his young age to his new feat, this further fuels the Naija pride and the push for greatness.

While Onakoya’s mission is not solely for breaking records, his goal has always been for a profound cause. He aimed to raise $1 million for the education of children in Nigeria and Africa at large, particularly for children without access to quality education.

The new victory has added a push to that drive.

For X (formerly Twitter), the goal was clear – All for Naija.

An X user, @GambitGritty said, “From broken boards to breaking records. From slum corners to the world stage. This ain’t just chess. it’s revolution with 64 squares. @Tunde_OD did that. congratulations to everyone and all chess lovers.”

Another @Chess_chain, a chess club, recognized Onkoya’s victory for the slums. “For the streets. For the slums. For every kid who dared to dream beyond their block, this one’s for you. Nigeria just made history.”

Also, @Beedemi attributed the victory to inspiration for Nigerian Children. “Congratulations, Tunde, on achieving a remarkable milestone by breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon. This accomplishment not only demonstrates exceptional dedication and skill but also serves as an inspiration to children from rural communities in Nigeria.”

Tunde Onakoya’s Chess in Slums Africa

According to Wikipedia, Tunde Onakoya learned to play chess at a barber’s shop in a slum in Ikorodu, Lagos, where he grew up. Being unable to pay for his secondary school, his mother offered to work for a school as a cleaner in exchange for his school fees. His zeal to rewrite history for other children pushed his passion to be a renowned world chess player today.

In September 2018, He founded Chess in Slums Africa, where it started as a volunteer-driven non-profit organisation that aims to empower young people in impoverished communities through chess.

Chess in Slums Africa partnered with Chess.com in September 2020 as an educational tool for classrooms, chess clubs, and parents.

As of June 2021, Chess in Slums Africa had trained over 200 children and provided lifelong scholarships for 20 of them.

To Tunde Onkoya, Chess is more than a game that gives him his constant identity.

“Finding chess gave me something. It gave me an identity, an intellectual one, and it made me believe that I could also be intellectually inclined, and it made me believe that I could also be a thinker. That through just this game, I could find my place in the world again,” said Onakoya on his discovery of Chess during a speaking event in Germany.