Meet America's Newest Chess Master, 10-Year-Old Tanitoluwa Adewumi

Source: NPR/ HarperCollins

By Sam Piha

We posted a prior LIAS blog on Chess and Afterschool. For readers who were particularly interested in this topic, we wanted to introduce you to America’s newest chess master, 10-year-old Tanitoluwa Adewumi. After fleeing his home country of Nigeria, he arrived in America with his family and stayed in a homeless shelter. 

I say to myself that I never lose, that I only learn. Because when you lose, you have to make a mistake to lose that game. So you learn from that mistake, and so you learn [overall]. So losing is the way of winning for yourself."- Tanitoluwa Adewumi

He was recently interviewed by NPR. You can listen to the interview by clicking the image below. If you prefer to read his story, click here and here.

He's also written a book about his life called My Name Is Tani ... and I Believe in Miracles. The book has been optioned for a Trevor Noah-produced film adaptation with a script by The Pursuit of Happyness screenwriter, Steven Conrad. 

Teacher-turned-principal Salome Thomas-EL says chess can help students develop a slew of practical skills they can use for many years to come." 

Check out the full article, When Implementing Games In Your Classroom, Don’t Forget About Chess, on Edutopia here.