Celebrations As Tunde Onakoya Set New World Record History In Chess Marathon
There’s wood jubilations on social media as Nigerians at home and abroad celebrate chess champion, Tunde Onakoya after he set a new Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon in Times Square, New York.
The new world champion Onakoya, played non-stop alongside American chess player Shawn Martinez for 70 hours, surpassing the previous record of 61 hours, 3 minutes, and 34 seconds set by Norwegian duo Odin Blikra Vea and Askild Bryn after he clocked 64 hours.
Social media has since been buzzing with praise for Onakoya, who is also the founder of Chess in Slums Africa, for his resilience, brilliance, and patriotism.
“History made at Time Square. Thank you for the motivation, resilience, grit, and putting Nigeria on the global map yet again. Congratulations, Tunde!” wrote @Biz_Solutioneer on X (formerly Twitter).
Another user, @Vet_IdNOBLE, urged him to keep going even further, saying, “Please do 80 hours if you
The feat has ignited a wave of national pride and admiration for Onakoya, who undertook the challenge to raise funds for building free schools for homeless children across Africa.
Tunde Onakoya, through his foundation, has continued to use the game as a tool to inspire and educate children from underserved communities.
Hafsoh Isiaq is a graduate of Linguistics. An avid writer committed to creative, high-quality research and news reportage. She has considerable experience in writing and reporting across a variety of platforms including print and online.
