Tanitoluwa Adewumi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tanitoluwa Adewumi |
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Adewumi (left), receiving 2019 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation award as his father applauds
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| Full name | Tanitoluwa Emmanuel Adewumi |
| Country | United States |
| Born | September 3, 2010 Nigeria |
| Title | FIDE Master (2021) |
| FIDE rating | 2347 (November 2024) |
| Peak rating | 2386 (July 2024) |
Tanitoluwa Emmanuel "Tani" Adewumi (born September 3, 2010) is a young Nigerian-American chess player. He holds the important title of FIDE Master (FM). Tani is known as a chess prodigy, which means he is a very talented young player.
He won the 2019 K-3 New York State chess championship. He was only 8 years old at the time. What makes his story amazing is that he had only been playing chess for about a year. At that time, he was living with his family in a homeless shelter in Manhattan.
Tani's Early Life
Tanitoluwa was born in Nigeria. His parents are Kayode James Adewumi and Oluwatoyin Kuburat Adewumi. He also has an older brother. In Nigeria, his dad ran a print shop. His mom worked as an accountant.
Tani's family is Christian. They faced danger in Nigeria and had to leave their home. In June 2017, they moved to the United States. They asked for asylum, which is a way for people to find safety in a new country.
A pastor in Queens, New York, helped them at first. Then, the New York City Department of Homeless Services found them a place to stay. They lived in a homeless shelter in Manhattan. Tani's dad worked as a dishwasher and a driver. His mom worked as a cleaner. Tani started going to elementary school P.S. 116.
In October 2022, Tani and his family were officially granted asylum. This meant they could stay in the U.S. permanently. It also allowed Tani to travel to other countries for chess tournaments.
Tani's Chess Journey
Tani discovered chess at his school, P.S. 116. Shawn Martinez, the school's head chess coach, introduced the game to students. Tani loved it right away. He wanted to join the school's chess club.
The club had a fee of $330, which covered tournaments and travel. Tani's mom told the coach, Russell Makofsky, about their family's money situation. Coach Makofsky was kind and said Tani didn't have to pay.
In early 2018, Tani played in his first chess tournament. He started with a very low rating. But in just one year, he won seven trophies! His coaches were very impressed. They saw how hard he worked and how much he improved.
On March 9–10, 2019, Tani played in a big competition. It was the 52nd Annual New York State Scholastic Championships. He played in the kindergarten to 3rd-grade group. He was ranked eighth out of 74 players. His rating was 1473, which was lower than the top players.
But Tani played amazingly well! He won the championship with a score of 5.5 out of 6. This means he won five games and had one draw. His playing style is very aggressive. In one game, he even gave up a bishop for a pawn. A computer chess program later showed this was the best move!
On May 1, 2021, Tani was only 10 years old. He reached a rating of 2200. This made him a National Master in the USCF. He was one of the youngest players ever to do this.
In August 2021, he won the under-12 group at the North American Youth Chess Championship. He scored 8 out of 9 points. In November 2021, he became a FIDE Master. This happened after his FIDE rating went over 2300.
Tani is now working towards becoming an International Master (IM). To get this title, players need to achieve "norms." A norm is a high-level performance in a chess tournament. Tani has earned three IM norms so far. He needs one more norm from a specific type of tournament. He also needs to reach a rating of 2400.
