Nigerian breaks chess marathon record
By Gloria Aradi & Jacqueline Howard
Under the beaming lights of New York’s iconic Times Square, Nigerian chess master Tunde Onakoya has broken the record for the longest chess marathon.
After playing for 58 consecutive hours he was still at the board.
Onakoya hopes to raise $1m (£805,000) for charity to support chess education for millions of children.
Hundreds of supporters from the city’s Nigerian community have shown up to cheer on the chess master, including Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido.
They provided music and energised him with supplies of classic Nigerian dishes, including the beloved national staple, jollof rice.
Back home in Nigeria, people threw their support behind Onakoya as they watched him conquer the record on Twitch, a video-streaming service.
Supporters left messages on the stream commending Onakoya as an inspiration.
“Thank you for daring to dream and showing us the levels to which we can all take our brain power to! Well done Tunde! I’m going to pick up my chess board back haha,” one commenter wrote.
