Homeless refugee child crowned as New York chess champion

An eight-year-old homeless refugee from Nigeria has been crowned chess champion in New York’s annual state-wide tournament.

Tanitoluwa Adewumi, who lives in a Manhattan homeless shelter with his family, beat off several children with their own private chess tutors to win the third grade title. Known as Tani to his friend’s and family, he triumphed despite only learning to play the game last year.

He will now compete to be named national champion at a country-wide competition in May. After his victory he said he had two dreams. The first is to go on to become the world’s “youngest grandmaster”, the second is for his family to be allowed to stay in the US.