The Profile Dossier: Tani Adewumi, the 12-year-old chess champion

"I never lose. I learn.”

Feb 08, 2023

Twelve-year-old Tanitoluwa (Tani) Adewumi wants to make history. And in some ways, he already has.

With dreams of becoming a chess grandmaster, Adewumi has taken on the world of chess in a determined and fierce way that mirror his playing style.

In 2019, Adewumi was living in a homeless shelter in New York City with his brother and parents, who had fled Nigeria just two years prior. The family left their home country fearing attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram, which had targeted Christian residents.

When they arrived in New York as refugees, a local pastor helped them find lodging at a homeless shelter. Adewumi began attending the local elementary school when he saw a familiar game: chess.

His older brother introduced him to the game on a homemade board at their house in Nigeria with cutout paper pieces. It wasn’t until 2017 that Adewumi saw a real chessboard for the first time.

Though he wanted to join the school’s chess club, the $360 annual fee was too high for his parents to afford. So Adewumi’s mom messaged the club asking if they could waive the fee for her son while they lived in the shelter.

The school waived the fee, and the rest is history. Adewumi became good, then great, and then unstoppable. At age 8, he defeated 73 competitors to win the New York State chess championship in his age category.

After Nicholas Kristof wrote a short profile on Adewumi in The New York Times in 2019, the story caught fire. Readers helped start a GoFundMe for Adewumi and his family, and strangers from all over the world raised more than $250,000, along with a year of free housing. The Adewumis used part of the money to launch a foundation and help other homeless people and refugees.

Today, the Adewumi family lives in a home they purchased, and Tani is one norm shy of gaining an International Master rank. For a long time, Adewumi couldn’t travel abroad to international tournaments out of fear he wouldn’t be let back into the United States without proper documentation.

Just two months ago, he and his family breathed a sigh of relief. They were officially granted political asylum in the United States in December 2022. "We thank God for his mercy and the people of America for their kindness," said Adewumi’s dad, Kayode.

Here’s what we can learn from Adewumi about specializing at an early age, pursuing knowledge, and how the chess board can prepare you for life.

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READ.

On talent and opportunity: This is the original 2019 New York Times profile that started it all. In it, writer Nicholas Kristof writes: “Tani is a reminder that refugees enrich this nation — and that talent is universal, even if opportunity is not. Back in Nigeria, his parents say, his brilliance at chess would never have had an outlet.”

On becoming a child chess prodigy: When Adewumi began second grade, he learned the rules of chess for the first time and fell in love with the game. What his family didn’t know at the time is that Adewumi’s 8-year-old brain and its ability to think 20 moves ahead on an 8-by-8 chessboard was about to change the entire trajectory of their lives.

On his discipline: Adewumi attends school in New York, then practices for seven hours when he gets home. When he doesn’t have school, he can practice for eight, nine, or sometimes even 10 hours a day. “Chess is everything to me, it’s my life,” Adewumi says. “That’s how we came to where we are today.”

On attaining the impossible: In his memoir, My Name Is Tani . . . and I Believe in Miracles, Adewumi and his parents tell us their incredible true story of sacrificing everything for family, living with nothing but hope, and then sharing generously all they received to discover the greatest riches of all. Adewumi’s triumphant spirit reminds us of the power of kindness and the beauty of unity as we watch for the next miracle to begin.

LISTEN.

On his unrelenting love for learning: Adewumi is obsessed with chess — he reads books about it, he studies famous masters, plays it online, and plays his coaches. "He has an incredible memory and he's very interested in what he's learning," says his coach Shawn Martinez.

WATCH.

On his determination to excel: In this interview, the wildly charismatic Adewumi explains how his brother taught him chess, but failed to teach him the right rules. He didn’t begin playing until only a year earlier when he joined the chess team and his coach took an interest. Besides the interviewers being slightly insufferable (apologies for my honesty 🤣), you can immediately notice Adewumi’s concentration and intensity. You can’t watch this and not smile.

POLINA’S TAKEAWAYS.

The chess board prepares you for life: In many ways, Adewumi is a warrior. He takes control of the chess board the same way he takes control of his life. Before each game, he takes 20 deep breaths and calms himself down so he can tap into his deep focus. Adewumi has taken on players of all ranks and all backgrounds. As a result, he’s learned a valuable lesson that has helped him prepare for the game of life. “Hard work beats talent,” he says. “Don’t judge a book by its cover. If you see an unrated person, that should worry you because there’s no way to know if they are good or bad. So play your best.”

Find places of refuge: One of the reasons that Adewumi loves chess is because it serves as a place of refuge. He has previously noted that the outcome of the game has nothing to do with your skin color, race, age, religion, or background. It only cares about your level of skill and passion for the game. As his coach Shawn once told him, “Chess honors intelligence, character, and how much you invest in it.”

Let ‘sorry’ always be in your mouth: One lesson that Adewumi’s family has imparted to their children is this: “Let sorry always be in your mouth.” In other words, never hesitate to apologize when you’ve hurt someone, whether intentionally or not. This applies to the children but also the parents. The Adewumi household prides itself on putting compassion ahead of a bruised ego.

Start your day with laughter: In his memoir, Adewumi shares a seemingly mundane moment that taught him an important lesson. One early morning, his dad was snoring so loudly that he woke up the entire family. Upon waking up, they all just burst into laughter. Adewumi’s takeaway? Though his family was under immense stress once moving to the U.S, that moment of levity set the tone for the entire day and made him realize that happiness is found in the small moments.

Remember that pawns can be powerful: Although the queen is often seen as the most powerful piece in chess, the pawn is perhaps one of the most strategic. Adewumi’s mom remembers something that his coach Shawn Martinez once said to her son: "When you put pawns together, there's no stopping them." She thought that was a nice metaphor for their own life: the teachers, the pastors, and the kind strangers who came together to help her family may be seen as pawns. But put together, they’re more powerful than any one single individual. "You might see them looking so small, but they are very powerful," she says. Never forget that even in the face of great uncertainty, our collective humanity always prevails and has the power to change lives.

QUOTES TO REMEMBER.

“When you lose, you have made a mistake, and that can help you learn. I never lose. I learn.”

“Talent is universal. Opportunity is not.”

“You don't actually lose, you learn. You've lost for a reason and you have to figure that out.”

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