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Unexpectedly, a young Nigerian immigrant proved that hard work paid off.
Tanitoluwa (Tani) Adewumi, a third grader at 116 P. in New York City, won the Scholastic Primary Championship in her age group.
This is already an impressive feat in itself, but Tani, 8, learned to play chess only about a year ago.
Tani and her family of four fled northern Nigeria in June 2017, worried about attacks by the extremist group Boko Haram, her father Kayode Adewumi told CNN.
The family stayed at a homeless shelter in New York, where Tani kept the chess trophies he collected.
Shawn Martinez, chess coach at P.S. 116, recruited Tani to join the chess program.
"(Tani's) very tactical. His memory is excellent, "said Martinez. "New Day" from CNN."
But it's more than the pure talent that propelled Tani to victory. He takes the time to perfect his art and his practices every day, said his father.
"The kids on average make 50 to 100 puzzles a week. (Tani) loves 500 puzzles a week, "said Martinez.
He hopes to become a great teacher one day
Tani said that what he really loves about chess is the "deep thinking" aspect. Eventually, he hopes to win the Grandmaster title, which is the highest honor that a chess player can get.
His father said the family was thrilled to see the student win the March 10 contest.
"We are really happy," he said, adding that "(Tani) has a lot of competitions to come."
The family received a wave of support
A GoFundMe fundraiser for Tani has already raised more than $ 190,000 in four days. The family plans to pay this money to the Tanitoluwa Adewumi Foundation, which according to Tani's father will help refugees and immigrants.
The Adewumi family is no longer homeless because a person offered him an apartment after hearing the story, said Russell Makofsky, who oversees the PS failures program.
In addition to financial support, the family also received messages from people offering legal services and cars.
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