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 | 2397 (July 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2397 (July 2025) |
Tanitoluwa Emmanuel "Tani" Adewumi (born September 3, 2010) is a talented Nigerian-American chess player. He holds the important title of FIDE Master (FM). Tani is known as a chess prodigy because he became very good at chess very quickly. He won the 2019 K-3 New York State chess championship when he was only 8 years old. He had only been playing chess for about a year at that time. His family was living in a homeless shelter in Manhattan, New York, when he won.
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Tani's Early Life
Tanitoluwa was born on September 3, 2010. His parents are Kayode James Adewumi and Oluwatoyin Kuburat Adewumi. They are from Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. Tani also has an older brother. Before they moved, his father ran a print shop in Abuja, Nigeria. His mother worked as an accountant.
Moving to the United States
Tani's family is Christian. They faced threats from a group called Boko Haram in Nigeria. Because of this, they left Nigeria in June 2017. They came to the United States to ask for religious asylum. This means they asked for protection because of their beliefs.
A pastor in Queens, New York, helped them find a temporary place to stay. He also connected them with the New York City Department of Homeless Services. The family was given a place in a homeless shelter in Manhattan. Tani's father worked as a dishwasher and an Uber driver. His mother worked as a cleaner. Tani started attending P.S. 116 elementary school.
In October 2022, Tani and his family were officially granted asylum in the United States. This was great news! It meant they could live 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 students to the game. Tani loved it right away. He wanted to join the school's chess club.
Joining the Chess Club
The chess club was run by coach Russell Makofsky. Joining the club was expensive, costing $330. This fee covered club activities, tournament entries, and travel. When Tani's mother explained their family's money situation, Coach Makofsky said Tani could join for free.
Tani played in his first tournament in early 2018. At that time, he had a very low chess rating of 105. Just one year later, he had already won seven trophies! His coaches were very impressed by how hard he worked. They saw how much he improved from when he first started.
Winning the State Championship
On March 9–10, 2019, Tani competed in the 52nd Annual New York State Scholastic Championships. He played in the kindergarten-3rd grade division. The tournament was held in Saratoga Springs, New York. Tani 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 entire event with a score of 5.5 out of 6. This means he won five games and had one draw. Tani's 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!
Earning Chess Titles
Tani continued to improve rapidly. On May 1, 2021, when he was 10 years old, Tani reached a rating of 2200. This rating is needed to earn the official USCF title of National Master. He became one of the youngest chess players ever to achieve this.
In August 2021, he won the under-12 division of the North American Youth Chess Championship. He scored 8 out of 9 points. In November 2021, Tani reached a FIDE rating of over 2300. This earned him the title of FIDE Master.
Working Towards International Master
Tani is now working to become an International Master (IM). To get this title, players need to achieve certain scores, called "norms," in strong tournaments. They also need to reach a rating of 2400.
- In April 2022, Tani scored 7.0 out of 9 in a tournament. This earned him his first IM norm.
- In July 2022, he scored 7.0 out of 9 again. He won the IM C event and earned his second IM norm.
- In November 2022, he earned a third IM norm. He scored 5.5 out of 9 in the GM B event.
Because of a rule change by FIDE in early 2022, Tani still needs one more norm from a specific type of tournament. He also needs to reach a 2400 Elo rating. He is very close to achieving the International Master title!
