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(Newser)
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After the college admissions scandal, it's refreshing: an 8-year-old homeless immigrant has just quit smoking his category at the New York State Chess Championship. Hill reports. Tanitoluwa Adewumi, who lives with her family in a shelter in Manhattan, remained undefeated last weekend among children from kindergarten to grade three. "I want to be the youngest grandmaster," he says to Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times while displaying a big trophy. This is an amazing leap for the third student who arrived from Nigeria in 2017 and who started learning chess about a year ago. His elementary school eliminated fees for joining the chess program, and he participated in the tournament last year with the lowest score of all players, 105.
His rating this year was 1587 (to compare, the world's best Magnus Carlsen at 2845). Tani also knocked out the coaches with an aggressive style of play that included giving up a bishop for a single pawn, which allowed a few moves later. "He is so motivated," says his chess teacher at the school. "He's 10 times more chess puzzles than the average kid, he just wants to be better." The support of his parents does not play a minor role: his mother, Oluwatoyin Adewumi, broke the ice with the school's chess club and his father earns money by driving an Uber and working as a real estate salesman authorized. For now, Tani can not stop smiling. "I feel American," he says. (Read more edifying news.)
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