1 week ago
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Image source, AP
Tunde Onakoya broke the grounds connected Friday night
By Gloria Aradi & Jacqueline Howard
BBC News
Under the beaming lights of New York's iconic Times Square, Nigerian chess maestro Tunde Onakoya has breached the grounds for the longest chess marathon.
After playing for 58 consecutive hours helium was inactive astatine the board.
Onakoya hopes to rise $1m (£805,000) for foundation to enactment chess acquisition for millions of children.
Hundreds of supporters from the city's Nigerian assemblage person shown up to cheer connected the chess master, including Nigerian Afrobeats prima Davido.
They provided euphony and energised him with supplies of classical Nigerian dishes, including the beloved nationalist staple, jollof rice.
Back location successful Nigeria, radical threw their enactment down Onakoya arsenic they watched him conquer the grounds connected Twitch, a video-streaming service.
Supporters near messages connected the watercourse commending Onakoya arsenic an inspiration.
"Thank you for daring to imagination and showing america the levels to which we tin each instrumentality our encephalon powerfulness to! Well done Tunde! I'm going to prime up my chess committee backmost haha," 1 commenter wrote.
"Mr Onakoya is simply a awesome of excellence and resilience that separate Nigerians some astatine location and abroad... Go, marque history, and inscribe our sanction successful gold," Nigeria's Vice-President Kashim Shettima posted connected X.
"Lagos is rooting for you," Lagos authorities politician Babajide Sanwo-Olu told Onakoya, adding that his effort was "a almighty testament to however greatness tin look from anywhere".
The erstwhile satellite record, recognised by Guinness World records, was 56 hours, 9 minutes, and 37 seconds, which was acceptable by Norwegian duo Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad successful 2018.
Onakoya, 29, credits chess with redeeming him from the overwhelming poorness helium faced increasing up successful Lagos's infamous floating slums.
His non-profit, Chess successful Slums Africa, teaches the crippled to children from mediocre communities and helps them with their education.
Onakoya is besides a committee subordinate of the US non-profit The Gift of Chess, which works to alteration lives done chess and is targeting to administer 1 cardinal chess sets to underserved communities by 2030.
English (US)